Par panel for review of 3G services roll out period

The Department of Telecom (DoT) should review the five-year period given to telecom operators for rolling out 3G services network across country, the Standing Committee on Information Technology has said.

"The period of five years in case of 3G spectrum would result into blocking of resources. The Committee as such strongly recommends that the period of five years in case of 3G spectrum should be reviewed after looking into all aspects as well as international practice," the Committee said in its 41st report tabled in Parliament today.

Seven telecom operators won 3G spectrum spectrum in some zones in 2010. The PSU firms were allocated 3G spectrum in advance but they were asked to pay price equivalent to the amount paid by winners of the spectrum auction.

The Committee, headed by Rao Inderjit Singh, said in its Twenty-First report DoT was already asked to review 5-year time period given for 3G services network given that roll-out period is one year for telecom operators rolling out network for 2G services.

"The Committee disapproves the way the the Department has dealt with one of the important recommendations (review of 3G roll out period) made by the Committee in the Twenty-First report," it said.

The report added that the DoT instead of taking the recommendations "seriously" tried to "sidetrack the issue" by insisting that the roll out obligation in case of 3G spectrum being part of Notice Inviting Application (NIA) "cannot be altered at this stage".

As per NIA, which is a legally binding agreement between government and telecom operators that have won 3G spectrum, telecom operators are required to provide street level coverage in at least 90 percent of service area in metros within 5 years of the date they were allocated 3G spectrum.

For rest of the country, telecom operators are required to cover 50 percent of district headquarters (DHQs) which should be 90 percent of the area bounded by municipal or local body limits within five years.