India finally assigns 1.8GHz spectrum

India government finally allocates 1.8GHz spectrum

28 OCT 2014

India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) has finally assigned the 1.8GHz spectrum that five operators won in the auction back in February.

Earlier this month Vodafone India formally requested the DoT to immediately allocate the airwaves it had secured in the auction and paid for in March.

In September Bharti Airtel reportedly demanded compensation from the country’s government to cover the interest on money it borrowed to secure spectrum in February’s auction to which it has not yet received access. Because of the six-month delay, the company also requested a six-month extension of the expiry date of its existing 900MHz spectrum from the date the new frequencies are assigned. But the DoT has not indicated yet if it will grant the additional time.

The Economic Times reported that a Bharti Airtel executive said the company had been allotted 1.8GHz spectrum in all 15 circles where it won 2G spectrum, but is awaiting allocation of the 900MHz spectrum secured in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.

The other operators to receive their 1.8GHz allotments were Idea Cellular, Reliance Jio Infocomm, and Uninor.

Author

Joseph Waring

Joseph Waring joins Mobile World Live as the Asia editor for its new Asia channel. Before joining the GSMA, Joseph was group editor for Telecom Asia for more than ten years. In addition to writing features, news and blogs, he...

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