Broadband hurdle for spectrum-seekers

NEW DELHI: Companies wanting a piece of the telecom spectrum pie may have an additional conditionality to deal with. The department of telecommunications (DoT) is planning to include the broadband consumer base of a service provider as a criterion for allocating spectrum. This is being done to help the country achieve the target of 20 million broadband connections by 2010.

“Under the new conditions, existing broadband service providers may be required to increase the number of their subscribers by a certain limit apart from improving the condition of their services,” a government source said. He, however, added that the modalities have not yet been finalised.

The government had set a target of achieving nine million broadband connections by the end of 2007 but it was missed by a big margin. At present, the number of broadband connections in the country is hovering at about three million. In fact, there has been a slowdown in the number of new consumer additions. The addition during the April-September period this year was only 3.3 lakh as compared to 4.7 lakh during the same period last year, according to data available with the Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI).

The government is also planning to release additional spectrum for services like WiMax which is expected to play a key role in boosting broadband penetration and providing services such as e-governance, e-health and e-education in India. The technology would also help increase the penetration of mobile voice and video services as these services are mostly dependent on broadband wireless technologies such as WiMax.

Additional spectrum is also required for the effective implementation of the next generation network (NGN) programme announced by the tlecommunication Minister A Raja last month. NGN aims at achieving seamless convergence of voice, video and data by deploying Internet Protocol-based packet switched networks, which would be capable of providing new services at affordable prices.

If DoT makes it a criteria to increase broadband penetration, chances of new players getting spectrum allocation would become even more weak. The Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI) has also suggested that the existing players should get a preference in spectrum allocation.

There are around 40 applicants who have applied for spectrum allocation including newcomers like DLF, Unitech and Indiabulls.