The Hindu Business Line : Dual tech to CDMA operators: Cellular players take DoT to court

Spectrum row
Apart from RCom, DoT has given permission to Shyam Telecom and HFCL to start GSM services.
COAI said that in 1999-2000, when some GSM operators applied for CDMA spectrum, the request was turned down by DoT.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Oct 23 Giving a legal twist to the ongoing telecom licensing process, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Tuesday filed an appeal with the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal challenging the Department of Telecom’s decision of giving permission to Reliance Communication and other CDMA operators for offering GSM-based cellular services under its existing unified access licence.

COAI, which represents interests of existing GSM players such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, said in its petition that “DoT has acted upon its decision with unseemly haste and has, on the basis of some invalid applications made around February 2006 (when such allotments were not permissible and thus such applications were ipso facto and ab initio, illegal and non est), issued an in-principle approval to some CDMA operators. The unseemly haste on the part of DoT is further evidenced by the fact that the in-principle approval has been issued to the CDMA operators even before the licenses were amended in order to make the decision a fait accompli.”

Apart from Reliance Communication, DoT has given the permission to Shyam Telecom and HFCL to offer GSM services in Rajasthan and Punjab. Tata Teleservices has also put in its application for GSM spectrum across the country. In another move, RCom has applied for CDMA spectrum in areas where it currently has only GSM based service.

COAI, in its petition, said that in 1999-2000, when some GSM operators applied for CDMA spectrum, the request was turned down by DoT. “DoT stated that the operators were technology neutral only within their designated band and further that the CDMA spectrum was earmarked for the fixed service providers,” the petition said.

GSM operators told the Tribunal that the decision by DoT was illegal since such policy changes need to be ratified by the Cabinet before it is finalised.