Need for More Clarity on 3G and BWA services

The stage is set for spectrum auctions for 3G and BWA services next month. With less than a month to go for the D-day, there is still not enough clarity on what is the DoT definition for '3G' and 'BWA' services. As per the memorandum available on the DoT website,

"3G systems represent the next step in the evolution of mobile cellular communication. 2G systems focus on voice communication, while 3G systems support increased data communication. They allow high speed data transfer of at least 144 kbps, mobile Internet access, entertainment, and triple-play converged communications services, and have markedly greater capacity and spectrum efficiency than 2G systems."

"BWA technologies enable high-speed data communication over wireless links. BWA may offer significant advantages over wireline broadband systems based on cable network or DSL in terms of better coverage, speedy deployment, high scalability, lower maintenance and upgrade costs, and phased investment to match market growth."

It is clear that EVDO, UMTS, HSPA, LTE meet 3G service definition and can operate in 2.1 GHz band. In other words, CDMA operator can bid for 3G spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band and use it to deploy EVDO. At the same time, all of the aforementioned technologies plus WiMAX also fulfil BWA service requirements. Since the proposed BWA spectrum is unpaired, UMTS-FDD, HSPA and EVDO are automatically ruled out but it's still possible to deploye UMTS-TDD in the 2.5 GHz band.

This lack of clarity on what consitutes 3G and BWA can potentially lead to contoversy before and after the auctions.