While Bharti Airtel, Aircel, TTSL, Vodafon Essar and Reliance Communicationsare all set to go ahead with plans to roll out 3G services by year-end, after being allotted 3G spectrum, and telecom equipment norms also being given the go-ahead recently, for Idea – also a successful 3G bidder which won 3G airwaves in 11 circles, the wait for 3G spectrum will continue.
Idea is still facing hurdles over its Unified Access Service License in the Punjab circle, where its license for Spice Telecom, which it bought over in 2008, overlaps with its current license, leading to a dual-license in a single circle in six areas where both Idea and Spice operate. DoT is refusing to allot 3G spectrum to Idea till it surrenders its extra licenses, but Idea wants the entry fee aid for the licenses to be refunded first. This has led to a no-win scenario for Idea, with the successful bidder being denied 3G airwaves after paying for them, and not being refunded its entry fee either for the licenses it is not using. This is besides the issue of the merger between Idea and Spice Telecom being approved by the High Court and yet not being completed, leading to both operating overlapping services in similar circles.
While it is left to be seen how Idea handles these hurdles, other successful operators are set on keeping their promise to customers of rolling out 3G services by the year-end. In a recent exclusive interview with Voice&Data, Anil Sardana, MD, TTSL said, “We look forward to leveraging on NTT DOCOMO's expertise to get a first-mover advantage in the 3G arena-add to this the fact that our networks are NGN and, therefore, 3G-ready, we are well-positioned to take to the market fast.” Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, Bharti Airtel also said today that since the operator's core network is 3G ready, with only the radio network having to be added, the operator is hopeful of rolling out services this year itself.
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