Vodafone asks for urgent allocation of spectrum
The telecom operator Vodafone has requested the government for instant allocation of spectrum, which the telco has won in the February auction. Along with this the operators also asked for the extension of validity by six months for the date of allocation.
As reported by PTI, Vodafone said, “Vodafone India has formally requested the DoT and regulator TRAI for immediate allotment of the 1800MHz spectrum, which it had won in auctions. Only 7 weeks are left, when as per DoT, the presently deployed spectrum in 900 MHz is to be replaced by 900MHz won in auctions.”
The telco also said that, earlier also it has reminded the government on the same issue, but nothing has been done yet. The licenses of Vodafone for the Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles are set to expire in November this year and in order to continue with the services the operator has to purchase fresh spectrum. Along with Vodafone, Airtel’s permit is also set to expire for the Delhi and Kolkata zones.
Vodafone has also won the spectrum in the 1800 Mhz and 900 Mhz bands. The company also said that, “This changeover under normal circumstances could take at least 6 months after the earmarking of frequencies. DoT is also on record saying that looking at the technical and implementation issues, it is observed that 6 months period may not be sufficient to migrate the network from 900 MHz to 1800 MHz band on extension of licences.”
Furthermore, the operator stated that the public cannot afford any loss of service due to the incomplete earmarking of spectrum by DoT.
