Cellular Operators Association of India asks DoT to speed up spectrum allotment

NEW DELHI: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has urged Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg to expedite procedural clearances for allotting airwaves, some of which have been delayed by as much as two years since auctions. It has also sought issue of letters of intent for unified licences that will lead of swifter rollout of services.

The lobby group of GSM-based telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to resolve legacy issues where DoT and the sector regulator are at loggerheads and which remain unresolved in various courts.

It also want the department to take initiative to execute pending tri-partite agreements, which operators enter into with banks and the government to keep their telecom licence as collateral to take loans.

In a three-page letter to the department, the industry body has sought faster approvals for international gateway testing, spectrum allocations—including those the companies had won in an auction in November 2012— allotment for microwave carriers and approvals for mergers between companies that have been held up for a long time, in some cases about four years.

Disputes over issues such as adjusted gross revenue and one-time spectrum charge, which are pending in courtand may result in negative sentiment, COAI said.