BSNL May Expand Network Coverage into Naxal Areas by Year-end:

India's state-owned mobile network, BSNL is expected to start expanding its network into terrorist affected areas by the end of this year.

The deployment is dependent on approval from the Telecom Commission, which is expected to be granted later this month.

The rural areas have been poorly served by mobile networks, partly due to economic reasons, but also due to the ongoing terrorist insurgency.

The Naxalites are a Maoist communist group in India, leaders of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. The Naxals are considered far-left radical communists, supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology. They have a modus-operandi of attacking mobile phone networks and taking down their towers - after claiming that the police use the networks to track their mobile phones.

An official said BSNL has already installed 363 towers and identified another 450 sites for setting up towers.

"BSNL has opened the tender and selected the vendor. The market price for the project has been obtained, which is communicated to the Department of Telecom (DoT). Further decision is to be taken after the approval of the Telecom Commission," an official told PTI.

DoT may issue spectrum auction documents in 2-3 weeks:

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is likely to issue within 20 days a notice inviting applicants for the sale of 2G spectrum in the third round of auctions planned to be held in January.

"In about 15-20 days time from now," Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui told reporters in New Delhi when asked in how many days the notice inviting application (NIA) will be out.

He said the government will be auctioning around 400 Mhz spectrum in 1800 MHz band and 45 Mhz in 900 MHz band.

"At the moment, what we are going ahead with is 1800 Mhz and 900 Mhz, so about 400 Mhz totally in 1800 Mhz band and about 45 MHz in 900 Mhz band (will be auctioned)," he said.

The government is expecting a minimum of Rs 11,000 crore from the upcoming spectrum auction.

The government has set revenue target of Rs 40,874.50 crore this fiscal from spectrum, including auction amount, one-time spectrum charge and annual regular licence fee.

Asked about the auction in the 800 Mhz band, used by CDMA service providers, Farooqui said DoT will write to sectoral regulator Trai asking for recommendations on the reserve price this week.

"DoT will write to Trai this week," he said but refused to give a timeline for the auction.

"The timeline, I cannot predict... Once we have the reply from Trai, we have to examine this, it will have to go to the Telecom Commission and EGoM and so on... I don't want to make a commitment about the timeline," he added.

Trai had not recommended a reserve price for 800 MHz band and asked DoT to explore the feasibility of EGSM band for this frequency.

Bharti Airtel asks DoT to liberalise allocation of numbers:

Taking a stand in contrast to GSM industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Bharti Airtel on Friday asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to liberalise the allocation of numbers to operators. 

As per existing guidelines, a new operator is allocated 10 lakh numbers per circle and thereafter, more are allotted based on subscriber additions. 

There is a critical need to reconsider the criteria for allocation of new number series, the country's biggest mobile operator by subscribers said. 

In a letter to DoT Secretary MF Farooqui, Airtel said, "The present policy is extremely stringent, resulting in inordinate delays, seriously limiting the customers and operators ability to seek or add new customers." 

The Cellular Operators Association of India, which represents GSM players, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular , had recently written to DoT to allocate only 10 lakh numbers per circle to Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL), in accordance with current guidelines. 

As per media reports, Reliance Jio Infocomm had asked for 4 crore numbers to launch 4G operations in the country. 

RJIL holds pan-India spectrum for this service in 22 circles. 

COAI had said the existing guidelines should apply to all service providers and should be applicable to new operators. 

Reliance Jio should be given only 10 lakh numbers per circle: COAI

GSM industry body COAI has asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) not to give "exclusive" number series to Reliance Jio Infocomm and allocate only 10 lakh numbers in each circle as per the guidelines.

According to media reports, Reliance Jio Infocomm has demanded 4 crore numbers to launch 4G operations in the country.

"We submit that there is an existing guideline set by DoT for allocation of numbers. When a service provider starts the services, they are allocated 1 million numbers in each circle of operation," COAI has said in a letter to DoT Secretary M F Farooqui.

When contacted, Reliance Jio did not offer any immediate comments on the issue.

COAI said the existing guideline should be applicable for all the service providers and this should continue to be applicable to any new licensees.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL), the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, has got a unified telecom licence that will enable it to offer voice telephony and high speed data services across the country.

RJIL is the only company that holds pan-India spectrum for 4G services. The company earlier held Internet Service Provider Licence which will be annulled once it is issued UL.

The company has shown intention to provide phone call service using radiowaves it has and is testing the technology for the same.

"No additional benefit should be conferred on any particular service provider by giving them additional numbers beyond their scope," Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said.

The industry body said any changes will be against the level playing field as all the other service providers are following the existing rules set by DoT.

"Hence, Reliance Jio Infocomm should be allocated only one million numbers per circle of their operations," COAI said.

The GSM body also said RJIL should not be allocated exclusive numbering series in order to maintain a level playing field.

COAI asks DoT to implement TRAI's recommendations on spectrum usage charges:

Reiterating its endorsement for sectoral regulator TRAI's recommendations to implement a flat spectrum usage charge (SUC) on operators, GSM industry body COAI Thursday requested Department of Telecom (DoT) to consider the regulator's proposal.

In a letter to DoT Secretary M F Farooqui, COAI said: "The recent TRAI's recommendations of flat spectrum usage charge is a step in the right direction to address the ongoing anomalies without giving any special consideration to one set of operators."

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had suggested that the annual SUC be set at a flat 3 percent of companies' revenue for the spectrum they buy from auctions. Currently, companies pay anything between 3 percent and 8 percent depending on their spectrum holding.

COAI said the current policy of escalating charges discourages purchase of spectrum, 'distorts spectrum auction', skews technology choices that may result in lower revenues for the government.

"Different SUC for different spectrum bands creates anomalies and discrimination apart from creating non-level playing field," COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said in the letter.

The GSM operators body said in the new regime where spectrum is being sold against the upfront charges through auction, an escalating SUC leads to a wide variation in the total cost of spectrum, paid over the period of the licence by the existing players in comparison to new players.

"we sincerely request DoT will correct the discrepancies in the current practise of levying SUC and consider TRAI's proposal which is aimed at ensuring a level playing field as well as long term benefits to the exchequer as also boost investor confidence," it added.

Raising issues over TRAI's suggestions on spectrum charges, Reliance Jio Infocomm had said they will make the third round of auction inconsistent and legally untenable.

The Mukesh Ambani-led firm has also alleged that TRAI recommendations favour incumbent telecom operators.