ISPs cry foul over WiMAX spectrum

NEW DELHI: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Sify and Spectranet are up in arms following the government's decision to take back the 2.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum allotted to them. ISPs claim they had already firmed up investment plans and ordered equipment when the Department of Telecom (DoT) shot a letter asking them to return the spectrum. The ISP Association is going to court over the government's decision.

"We had already started our commercial pilots and will incur a commercial loss due to the government's decision. Now, auctioning of the spectrum could lead to inflation in internet service charges, which is not a good thing for India as we are still poorly developed in terms of broadband penetration," says Sify's president for consumer infrastructure Naresh Ajwani.

The government had allotted 2.5 GHz spectrum (for mobile wireless broadband) in 2003 to seven players including Bharti, R-Com, HCL Infinet, Sify and Spectranet. But the government has asked them to return the spectrum. It plans to auction the 2.5 GHz spectrum for a base price of about Rs 550 crore. It will be about one-fourth the bidding price which is fixed at about Rs 2,200 crore for a pan-India licence, according to guidelines.

"The government should talk to industry players to resolve this tangle. Some players who have already started offering wireless broadband to corporate customers based on the spectrum allotted and ordered equipment will suffer a loss," says advisor to Spectranet Amitabh Singhal.

There's no way any ISP will be able to shell out Rs 550 crore for a WiMAX spectrum," says advisor to Spectranet Amitabh Singhal. "It's like changing the rules of the game just when a match is going to start. It will only lead to increase in valuations of universal access licence holders (UASL) or the telecom operators, who will hoard the WiMAX spectrum. We will be going to court against the DoT decision," said Internet Service Providers Association of India president Rajesh Charria.

Based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, WiMAX works on three licensed spectrum profiles: 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz. Currently, Pakistan has one of the largest functional WiMAX networks in the world, deployed by Wateen Telecom on Motorola hardware.

In India, the government had got 40MHz vacated from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2003 which was allotted to seven ISP licence holders in 2003. Recently, the government got an additional 30 MHz vacated from ISRO. The government plans to put forth the entire 70 MHz for auction, which the ISPs are opposing.

WiMAX or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a wireless communication technology which can offer high speed connnectivity over a larger, about 50 km radius. It's important also for remote areas and tough terrain where setting up optical fibre cables is difficult.