New 2G players write to Sibal

New 2G players have written to the Communications and IT Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, seeking spectrum up to 6.2 Mhz at no additional charge. The operators include MTS, Videocon, , Uninor, Reliance Communications, STel, HFCL Infotel and Tata Teleservices. These players have been given initial start up spectrum and are awaiting the next tranche of air waves. But DoT is considering a proposal to charge a fee from the operators for the additional spectrum. While GSM players have been given 4.4 Mhz start-up spectrum, CDMA operators have got 2.5 Mhz. According to these operators, their licences entitle them to get up to 6.2 Mhz of GSM spectrum and 5 Mhz of CDMA spectrum without any additional fee. “Any change to the already existing contractual arrangements with regard to allocation of additional 1.8/2.5 Mhz will be highly discriminatory, against the principle of level playing field and likely to derail our business plan,” the eight operators said in the joint letter. An internal DoT committee has suggested that all operators should be asked to pay a fee for spectrum beyond 4.4 Mhz for GSM players and over 2.5 Mhz for CDMA operators.