New criteria for additional spectrum announced

New Delhi, Mar 30 (UNI) The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced the new subscriber-based criteria for allotment of GSM Spectrum and for CDMA spectrum (5th and 6th carriers), official sources said today.

In Delhi and Mumbai, the minimum subscriber base required for allotment of 6.2 MHz bandwidth of GSM spectrum is 3 lakh, for 8 MHz (6 lakh), 10 MHz (10 lakh), 12.4 MHz (16 lakh) and 15 MHz (21 lakh).

In Chennai and Kolkata, the minimum subscriber base required for allotment of 6.2 MHz of GSM spectrum is 2 lakh, for 8 MHz (4 lakh), 10 MHz (6 lakh), 12.4 MHz (10 lakh) and 15 MHz (13 lakh). 0 In category 'A' telecom circle, it is 4 lakh for 6.2 MHz, 8 lakh for 8 MHz, 14 lakh for 10 MHz, 20 lakh for 12.4 MHz and 26 lakh for 15 MHz.

In category 'B', the miminum subscriber base is 3 lakh 6.2 MHz, 6 lakh for 8 MHz, 10 lakh for 10 MHz, 16 lakh for 12.4 MHz and 21 lakh for 15 MHz.

In category 'C', it is 2 lakh 6.2 MHz, 4 lakh for 8 MHz, 6 lakh for 10 MHz, 9 lakh for 12.4 MHz and 12 lakh for 15 MHz bandwidth.

There is no criteria for 4.4 MHz bandwidth.

In Delhi and Mumbai, the minimum subscriber base required for allotment of CDMA 5th carrier of nominal 1.25 MHz bandwidth is 16 lakh, and for 6th carrier 21 lakh.

In Chennai and Kolkota it is 10 lakh and 13 lakh, respectively, for category 'A' circle it is 18 lkh and 21 lakh, and for category 'C' it is 9 lakh and 12 lakh.

The subscriber based criteria for the allotment of 3rd and 4th carrier for CDMA spectrum will continue to be as per the December 2004 order.

Sources said the allotment in both the categories is subject to availability of spectrum.

The active subscribers and peak traffic averaged over a month (for a minimum of 40 mErlangs per subscriber) in the Visitor Locator Register (VLR) would be taken into account for this purpose in both the categories.

Likewise, the enhanced revenue share for spectrum charges would apply for the AGR for subscribers in the complete service area in both cases.

UNI YJ SD BST1946