Delhi Targeted Again

Looking back at history, one can say that no city in the world has seen so much bloodshed as Delhi. Once again, bomb blasts rocked the Indian capital, leaving 20 dead (as per latest reports) and scores injured. Unsurprisingly, the self-style 'Indian Mujahideen' group claimed responsibility, ostensibly carrying out this murderous assault in 'the name of Allah'. May Allah 'reward' them with the severest of retributions in the hereafter for sullying His name. Many people in my community still want to bury their heads in the sand by blaming everyone else for these attacks but the time has come to fight this enemy within. There is a real problem facing the Muslim community and unless we act now, there will be far-reaching consequences. At the same time, the Govt also has the responsibility to make policing more effective and improve the intelligence network. After each such tragedy, the authorities claim to have busted the so-called SIMI network but the bombs keep coming. Maybe the police and intelligence agencies should talk less and act more discreetly to keep the enemy guessing!

DoT Amends 3G and BWA Policy

In the wake of the debate triggered between various stakeholders (and Govt depts) after DoT announced the long-awaited 3G and BWA sepctrum policy, a number of changes have been announced.

With regards to 3G, the eligibility criteria has been strengthened by stipulating that a non-UASL entity aiming to bid for spectrum must have prior experience in running 3G services. Spectrum for EVDO will also be allocated via auctions thus reversing the earlier position of giving spectrum to CDMA operators based on subscriber criteria. The reserve price for 2x1.25 MHz in 800 MHz band has been set at 25% of the 3G reserve price (following the pro-rata calculation). Finally, the annual spectrum fee will not be calculated on the incremental revenue earner from 3G services. This is going to be a tricky one, separating revenue earned from 2G and 3G services. The formula for determining the incremental revenue will be specified later.

As for BWA services, CMTS licence holders are now also eligible to bid for spectrum. The spectrum in 2.3 and 2.5 GHz band will be allocated for TDD mode only. The reserve price has now been doubled, such that it becomes 50% of the 3G base price (for a paired 2x5 MHz block). The roll-out conditions have also been changed. Now, 90% of a metro service area must be covered within 5 years and 50% of rural SDCAs must be covered in Category A, B and C areas during the same period.

The full set of amendments are available on the DoT website.

DoT to Allow Spectrum Sharing?

It's been reported by Economic Times that the Indian Government may let mobile operators share spectrum. If indeed this turns to be correct, this will be significant development. Note that in the recently released 3G and BWA policy, the DoT did not explicitly rule out trading and/or sharing of spectrum. Spectrum sharing may alleviate the spectrum shortage being felt in dense areas by operators.