DoT to study CDMA cos' claim on 1900 MHz for 3G
DoT’s decision to send a team to Hyderabad to inspect the trials despite GSM-based operators constant warning that any move to allocate spectrum in the 1900 MHz band to CDMA players would adversely impact their services in the 2100 MHz band.
By Joji Thomas Philip, TNN |
NEW DELHI: With CDMA operators claiming that field trials in the 1900 MHz frequency band has successfully established that telecom services in this frequency will not impact GSM operations in the 2100 MHz band, the department of telecom (DoT) has decided to send representatives from both Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) and the industry to validate this claim. CDMA operators are lobbying for 1900 MHz spectrum to offer 3G services in future. At present, they operate in the 800 Mhz frequency band.
DoT’s decision to send a team to Hyderabad to inspect the trials despite GSM-based operators constant warning that any move to allocate spectrum in the 1900 MHz band to CDMA players would adversely impact their services in the 2100 MHz band. The trials were done on Tata Teleservices’ network using equipment provided by Chinese equipment maker ZTE.
CDMA operators said the trails were carried out as per DoT’s directives. The DoT had instructed that “trials should be conducted with reasonable number of base stations of both the systems (GSM and CDMA) with proper placement to form a cluster along with large number of users/handsets, resembling a dense traffic area”. It has also added that “in case of interference to existing users, the experiment will have to be discounted immediately”. Following field trials, CDMA operators’ have also submitted the requisite data and results to the Wireless Planning and Co-ordination Wing (WPC) of the DoT to verify their claims that mix band allocations is possible in the country.
GSM players on the other hand maintain that a “limited trial can never replicate an environment of large scale deployment of base stations and handsets. So the results of the pilot cannot be relied upon”.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the body representing all GSM operators, in an earlier communication to the government had said: “The mixed band plan solution has not been implemented anywhere in the world, nor has this plan been certified by any international standards body. It has also been submitted that India, with its huge tele density targets and extremely price sensitive consumer cannot afford to adopt a solution that is not globally harmonised and delivers affordable services through economies of scale.”
Additionally, the COAI has also said that it was deeply concerned that the DoT has permitted a mixed band plan trial without the involvement and even knowledge of the GSM industry, which are the main affected party. “We note that the trial has involved ZTE which is a vendor and a CDMA operator, but not a GSM operator. The exclusion of the GSM industry is indeed most inexplicable and such a one sided trial carried out by the aggressor is against all tenets of fairness, openness and transparency,” the communication added.
DoT’s decision to send a team to Hyderabad to inspect the trials despite GSM-based operators constant warning that any move to allocate spectrum in the 1900 MHz band to CDMA players would adversely impact their services in the 2100 MHz band. The trials were done on Tata Teleservices’ network using equipment provided by Chinese equipment maker ZTE.
CDMA operators said the trails were carried out as per DoT’s directives. The DoT had instructed that “trials should be conducted with reasonable number of base stations of both the systems (GSM and CDMA) with proper placement to form a cluster along with large number of users/handsets, resembling a dense traffic area”. It has also added that “in case of interference to existing users, the experiment will have to be discounted immediately”. Following field trials, CDMA operators’ have also submitted the requisite data and results to the Wireless Planning and Co-ordination Wing (WPC) of the DoT to verify their claims that mix band allocations is possible in the country.
GSM players on the other hand maintain that a “limited trial can never replicate an environment of large scale deployment of base stations and handsets. So the results of the pilot cannot be relied upon”.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the body representing all GSM operators, in an earlier communication to the government had said: “The mixed band plan solution has not been implemented anywhere in the world, nor has this plan been certified by any international standards body. It has also been submitted that India, with its huge tele density targets and extremely price sensitive consumer cannot afford to adopt a solution that is not globally harmonised and delivers affordable services through economies of scale.”
Additionally, the COAI has also said that it was deeply concerned that the DoT has permitted a mixed band plan trial without the involvement and even knowledge of the GSM industry, which are the main affected party. “We note that the trial has involved ZTE which is a vendor and a CDMA operator, but not a GSM operator. The exclusion of the GSM industry is indeed most inexplicable and such a one sided trial carried out by the aggressor is against all tenets of fairness, openness and transparency,” the communication added.
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