The Hindu Business Line : TRAI's 3G ruling favours CDMA: COAI

The war of letters between GSM and CDMA operators over the recommendations of the telecom regulator on third generation services has begun. The Cellular Operator's Association of India on Thursday fired the first salvo by terming the recommendations as favourable towards CDMA operators.

"The COAI is concerned that, on the whole, the TRAI recommendations are rather slanted in favour of CDMA and disadvantageous to GSM," said COAI in a press release. The CDMA operators led by the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India are expected to respond on Friday.

COAI said that the auction route and high reserve price would hamper efforts to reach 3G benefits to consumers in an affordable manner. The cellular operators said they were disappointed that 3G was being viewed as a standalone service. "It had already been settled by earlier regulatory consultations that 3G should be viewed as a continuum or extension of 2G. This is supported by experience in current 3G countries, where the bulk of the revenues from 3G licences continues to be derived from voice and SMS," said the COAI letter.

COAI has also said that the spectrum allocation proposal was grossly unfair and incorrect. "It should be noted that 800 MHz spectrum is far more valuable than 2.1 GHz because of its far higher propagation characteristics. There is no rationale for giving CDMA an economic advantage by asking them to match only the 2nd highest bid," said Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director General, COAI.

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TRAI's 3G ruling favours CDMA: COAI