Armed forces to be allocated special 3G spectrum band

Indian citizens desperate for enhnced 3G services may have to wait longer than they expected, thanks to continued dithering by the government.

The defence forces have now demanded that a portion of the 3G spectrum be reserved for their future communication needs, even as the controversy about allocation of spectrum shows no sign of ending.

At the same time, a Delhi High Court Bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah has directed the department of telecommunications to file an affidavit by 21 January explaining why it cannot auction all the available blocks of spectrum in the upcoming 3G spectrum auction.

The direction was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed last month by the 'society for awareness and development'.

The 3G auction was originally scheduled to start from 16 January. Last month the telecommunications ministry announced a delay until 30 January, citing requests from potential bidders for more time.

Moreover, the cabinet is yet to take a final decision on a finance ministry proposal to double the base price for the auction.

"The revised time line for auction of 3G and BWA (broadband wireless access) spectrum will be notified shortly," says the website of the department of telecommunications. But the department admits that only about 25 Mhz of spectrum will be up for auction for 3G services against an availability of 60 Mhz.

Earlier, the defence forces had released some of the 3G spectrum that they had. In the last two years, they have vacated considerable amount of 3G frequencies for commercial telephony. In some of the circles, the vacation process is still on. The forces' sudden demand for more 3G space has taken even DoT by surprise.

To address the problem, the defence and telecom ministries have revived a plan to have a 'defence band'. With an exclusive spectrum, the armed forces could develop or buy technologies that work only in their band. Commercial users would be able to use only the civillian band.