Spread of 3G hampered by pricing, admits Sibal
10 Apr 2012
Even as the government mulls the launch of '4G' telecom services in India, communications and information technology minister Kapil Sibal today admitted that even 3G services are far from taking off in the country.
Many mobile operators bid for 3G spectrum in 2010; but the high prices as well as the limited extra airwaves sold have made the service unaffordable for all but top-end users.
Speaking at the launch of Airtel's 4G services in Kolkata, Sibal said, "3G has not delivered so far. The operators have paid huge money to get the bandwidth but they are not able to build the required infrastructure due to illiquidity."
He said the government was preparing to announce its latest telecom policy in May.
Referring to the 4G launch by Bharti Airtel, India's biggest mobile company by subscribers, Sibal said that it was related mainly to broadband wireless access (BWA); for which licences were auctioned separately. "Real 4G will come only when 700 Mhz of bandwidth is made available. Hopefully we will get it by this financial year."
He also urged telecom operators to make the security systems impregnable to prevent cyber-attacks.
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