By IANS
New Delhi : Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) issued a legal notice to the department of telecommunications (DoT) Wednesday demanding immediate allocation of radio waves to GSM mobile service operators.
“GSM operators had been facing a severe crunch on spectrum and have been waiting for months or even years to get spectrum,” T.V. Ramachandran, director general, COAI said in a statement.
“The extent of delay is as much as almost three years in some cases. Non-availability of spectrum for such long periods is affecting operators financially. It is hampering their ability to commence network rollout and expanding their networks and also in maintaining proper and necessary quality of service,” he added.
COAI also strongly protested the fact that a lot of companies with no background in the sector are applying for licenses.
Terming these companies as “proxies for vested interests”, the COAI has asked DoT “to lift the corporate veil” so that the sector remains competitive and contributes towards further development of India’s booming telecom industry.
The association has also asked the DoT to give top priority to existing GSM players such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea in giving out the licenses.