The long wait by five new pan-India telecom players to get GSM spectrum may come to an end in a couple of weeks, though not fully. Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to issue 4.4 MHz spectrum to run services in four circles. For other circles, the wait will be much longer as defence forces have not yet informed DoT when they will be able to release the spectrum.

Though DoT officials have not yet finalised the number of circles where the spectrum will be issued to new players, it is clear that new operators will not get spectrum in lucrative circles like Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Punjab.

The circles where they will get spectrum include Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Karnataka. For the purpose of issuing telecom licences, the country has been divided into 22 telecom circles. A DoT official said that GSM spectrum was available in six circles for all new operators.

However, the department plans to give spectrum in only four circles. The official said that spectrum in two other circles will be issued later. For rest of the circles, the DoT officials have no deadline. They do not know when the spectrum will be available.

Videocon-owned Datacom, Unitech, Shyam-Sistema and Essar-owned Loop Telecom are among the new operators who have been issued licences for providing services across the country. S-Tel has been issued licence for six circles. Among existing players, Tata Teleservices also paid licence fee to operate GSM services in new circles. The company is currently providing mobile services based on CDMA technology in all the circles.

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