In a new development, the Department of Telecom (DoT) is reportedly planning to introduce a clause in its final 3G policies making it mandatory for the bidders to have initial experience of atleast a year to the telecom sector. This virtually rules out the participation of new entrants in the 3G services domain.

Supporting DoT move, a Law ministry communication to DoT states that the new entrants have not accrued any right to bid for 3G spectrum and even if the government disallows such new entrants it should not pose any legal hurdles to the new players.

Infact the Law Ministry has pointed out way back in 1994, in a dispute involving Tata Cellular and the government, the Supreme Court had pointed out that the terms of the contract set by the government “cannot be open to judicial scrutiny because the invitation to tender is on the realm of the contract” and the government must have a freedom of contract.

The minimum period of exposure clause may result in players such as Unitech, Videocon’s Datacom and S-TeL being left out of the race for 3G services.