Spectrum issue big challenge for telecom Cos: Sunil Mittal

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Lucknow, Mar 20: Bharti Group chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said the spectrum issue was a big challenge for the Indian telecom operators in wake of the substantial growth in call traffic.

''The rapid growth of the Indian telecom space, particularly mobile services, has warranted that a national spectrum policy be formulated without any further delay,'' Mittal said talking to UNI here.

Spectrum is the basic platform needed to offer mobile services.

Operators using Global System for Mobile (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technologies are allocated fixed radio frequency (spectrum) for a given quantum of subscriber base to prevent congestion of network and sustain a pre-determined call completion rate.

GSM operators -- such as Airtel and Hutch -- get 10 Mhz radio frequency to offer services to 12 lakh subscribers, while CDMA operators -- such as Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices -- get 5 Mhz for 10 lakh customers.

According to reports, telecom operators will start getting more frequencies from the Defence Ministry, which will improve the quality of their services. The defence agencies will release additional frequency bands for telecom operators.

Forecasting exponential progress in telecom, Mittal said although his company Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited -- that owns Airtel brand -- was posting impressive growth figures year-on-year, the revenue streams had become tough with crashing tarrifs.

''However, the situation is compensated by proliferation in the mobile phone penetration in the country following availability of cheaper handset models and rising competition among different operatiors.'' ''It is a high volume, low value scenario for the telecom sector,'' he justified.

Mittal was here on Saturday evening for the 20th convocation of the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L). He figured on the IIM-L Board of Governors, chaired by leading industrialist Hari Shankar Singhania. The Bharti Group chairman forecast that in about three years' time, the number of telecom operators with pan-India footprint would trickle down to five.

''There is also a possibility of foreign players entering the highly lucrative and potent Indian market, which will further intensify competition and benefit end user,'' he stated.

Airtel, that started operations in 1995 from Delhi, has two international telecom majors as principal stakeholders viz Vodafone and SingTel. Vodafone has a 10 per cent stake in Airtel.

Commenting on the competition between GSM and CDMA operators in the country, Mittal maintained that almost 80 per cent of the global telecom market was dominated by the companies based on GSM base.

''GSM is an open technology platform and value additions to the services is unhindered, while a lot of regulatory and licence procedures have to be adhered to in case of CDMA services,'' he informed adding that CDMA generally entailed international roaming handicap also.

Spelling out his priorities, Mittal asserted that his group aimed at building a robust telecom network and innovative value addition to existing services.

''We are now gearing to offer Third Generation Services (3G) on our network, once matters such as national spectrum policy and 3G pricing become clear,'' the Delhi-based entrepreneur added.

UNI

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X