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GSM, CDMA fight it out for frequency

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2004 01:57:26 AM ]

NEW DELHI: The road to high-speed mobile data communications is already receiving bad signals. Even before there is a clear policy on the issue, the GSM and CDMA lobbies are drawing battlelines on frequency allocation.


On the day telecom experts — representing the GSM lobby, comprising Bharti, Hutch and Idea — urged the government to ensure a smooth path for them on the road to 3G, the CDMA lobby comprising Reliance and Tatas cried foul.

At the heart of the issue is who should get the 1,900 MHz band. GSM operators want it, and so do CDMA. In India, CDMA mobiles operate in 800 MHz band and GSM in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz.
Both need a new band. CDMA operators are opposed to being pushed into 1,700 MHz or 450 MHz, citing technical difficulties including lack of dual/multi mode handsets. At the International Cellular Summit on Friday, Ricardo Tavares, V-P, GSM Association, Americas, and Alan Hadden, president, GSA, urged government to create an enabling environment for the industry’s evolution to high-speed data/video services.

Communications minister Dayanidhi Maran said: ‘‘It will be my endeavour to have a comprehensive spectrum policy as soon as possible so that the growth of the sector is not choked.’’ On broadband, he said its success would ultimately depend on its pricing and content. ‘‘Broadband has the capability of having an even more revolutionary impact on the telecom sector than cellular mobile services because it will offer more services, higher speeds and larger capacity.’’

Trai said it was looking at slashing domestic bandwidth costs by lowering ceiling (about Rs 22 lakh) to make it more affordable and would bring out a consultation paper within a few days.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/745515.cms