Telecom regulator TRAI has expressed serious concerns over the delay in allocating spectrum to mobile operators that had won airwaves in the auctions held in February.

TRAI has said the delay will impact 20 million subscribers in Delhi alone as the operators do not have enough time to swap from the existing frequencies to the fresh band.

Mobile licences issued in 1994 for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are set to expire in November this year. Barring Loop Mobile, the other players had managed to win fresh spectrum in the auctions held in February, which will allow them to continue services for another 20 years.

Extension sought Operators need at least three months to tune their networks from the old frequency band to the airwaves they won in the auction.

However, the DoT has allocated the spectrum only recently leaving just over a month for the swap.

Mobile operators, including Vodafone and Airtel, had sought a six-month extension of the old licences to enable the migration but the DoT has so far not done so. Vodafone had even approached TRAI to intervene. In response, TRAI has written to the DoT to hold a meeting with the operators and find a solution in a way that takes care of consumer interest.

“The Authority is seriously concerned that this delay on the part of Wireless Planning and Coordination (a DoT unit that manages spectrum) in assigning spectrum in the 1800 MHz band may lead to a partial breakdown of services offered by these two operators (Airtel and Vodafone), especially in Delhi,” the TRAI letter to DoT stated.

“It is apprehended that in December 2014, there will be a serious deterioration in the quality of service to these subscribers because of call drops, network congestion,” it added.

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