Inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission is likely to take a call on Monday on allowing extended use of spectrum by Airtel and Vodafone to avoid disruption in their services in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, besides deciding on base price for the next round of auction. However, both the companies acquired spectrum afresh in February this year but sought time till January 2014 to adjust their mobile network as per the new frequency spots won by them, Reports PTI.
In Delhi, Idea Cellular bagged 5 megahertz of airwaves in premium 900MHz band, in which mobile signal covers double area compared to coverage in other spectrum band used for GSM services. The 5MHz spectrum won by Idea includes 3MHz of spectrum that was being used by Vodafone and 2MHz was with Airtel.
Old permit of Vodafone in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata expired on November 29 as well as its right to use spectrum allocated under it. Airtel's permit in Delhi and Kolkata also expired on the same day.
Idea has agreed to allow Airtel and Vodafone to use its spectrum till January 14, subject to regulatory approval.
The Cabinet is likely to take a final call on reserve pricing for spectrum auction, planned to be held in February. |