4 years on, DoT yet to clarify 3G, broadband rollout norms

Nearly five years have passed since the Government sold 3G and broadband spectrum but the Department of Telecom is yet to firm up rollout norms for operators.

While the licences, issued in 2010, stipulate that rollout obligations have to be met by 2015, operators are in the dark as to what they are supposed to do with less than a year to go for the stipulated deadline.

The telecom regulator has now asked the DoT to spell out the norms at the earliest.

The guidelines issued in 2010 says that operators are required to offer services in 50 per cent of the district headquarters within five years, using 3G spectrum, of which at least 15 per cent should be in rural short distance changing areas (SDCA).

A rural SDCA is an area where 50 per cent of the population lives in rural areas. In the case of broadband, operators are required to cover at least 50 per cent of the rural SDCAs within five years.

However, the problem is that DoT does not have a complete list of rural SDCAs. For example, there is no data for States such as Rajasthan and those in the North East. This came to light when operators, including Vodafone and Airtel, wrote to the department seeking a list of rural SDCAs they are supposed to cover as part of the rollout obligation.

But neither the licensing wing nor the Universal Services Obligation fund administrator has a list.

The DoT had set up a committee to work out a list based on the census. However, the list prepared last year was found to have several errors.

For example, the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring wing of the DoT had tried to collate the data for Haryana based on the percentage of the rural population in a particular SDCA. However, the list prepared by the TERM cell had classified towns such as Gurgaon and Panchkula as rural.

Operators have also flagged issues over rollouts in the border areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Gujarat because of interference from networks in Pakistan.

Though the issues raised by the operators are genuine, it is also a fact that a number of players with broadband spectrum have not even launched services.

For example, Reliance Jio is expected to start services only next year. The company has already written to the DoT seeking an extension. There is no update on the rollout plans of other players such as Tikona and Augere.