Spectrum auction likely in smaller chunks of 5 Mhz

New Delhi: In a command to let more than operators to come in the radio broadband space, the Department of Telecom is considering auctioning spectrum in littler balls of 5 Megahertz instead of the earlier suggested 10 Mhz. As point have about 80 Megahertz spectrum for this segment, it could intend as many as 20 operators using engineerings such as as WiMax can come in the fray, offering consumers a wider pick of duties and schemes. Auctioning littler bandwidths may also convey in further grosses for the Government during the command process.

According to the policy being finalised by DoT, each bidder will be allowed to acquire a upper limit of four slots, which intends each operator would get about 20 Mhz. If that happens, the full WiMax spectrum will have got only four operators. However, point functionaries said they were expecting at least 10-15 operators as some of the new licence-holders are also expected to set in their bids. point have earmarked about 80 Megahertz of spectrum in the 2.5 Gigahertz and 2.3 Gigahertz bands.

This is a move away from the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which had suggested that spectrum should be auctioned in slots of 10 Megahertz spectrum to each successful bidder. TRAI had not put a cap on the upper limit amount of bandwidth an operator could offer for.

Wireless broadband services using engineerings such as as WiMax are expected to hike the incursion of high-speed Internet services in the country.

A recent study from research house Gartner Inc said Republic Of India will have got 6.9 million mobile and fixed WiMax connexions by the end of 2011. A figure of engineering companies including Motorola and Intel are betting large on WiMax services in India. The Government is also betting on WiMax rollouts to accomplish its broadband targets. Republic Of India had only 3.4 million broadband endorsers in January 2008, far short of the mark 9 million by 2007 set by the Government.

'Niche market'

According to Gartner, Republic Of India will stay a niche marketplace for this engineering until 2009. "Although presented as an of import driver for broadband policy in India, the Indian authorities have failed to effectively actuate operators to revolve out countrywide mobile broadband. WiMax have been selected by the Indian authorities to link rural countries to the Internet. However, low personal computer incursion will take to limited demand in the close term. WiMax is still a niche engineering and limited to endeavor and high-end residential users in urban India."

A figure of North American Indian operators have got already finalised programs for WiMax-based services. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has, for instance, invited look of involvement from equipment makers for supplying WiMax gear. The company programs to put close to $750 million for deploying broadband radio substructure across the country. However, private operators are still evaluating their scheme as issues regarding WiMax standards, especially for mobile services, are not clear yet. Most of the operators are now looking at offering fixed radio broadband services using WiMax technology