By IANS
New Delhi : Imbroglio over allocation of scarce spectrum airwaves for development of mobile services by private operators continues with the government failing to take a decision on Friday.
“Technical assessment is on,” is all that Communications and IT Minister A. Raja told reporters as he came out of a crucial meeting of an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) here.
The EGoM, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is exploring the possibility of how the unutilised airwaves lying with the defence ministry can be given to the mobile service operators.
According to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), as much as 60 mega hertz (MHz) of radio waves is under the control of the defence ministry and not being utilised at all. It has asked for 42.5 MHz for the use of mobile phone service operators.
However, the defence ministry has claimed that it wants the spectrum for growth plans of its forces.
With India adding over six to seven million mobile subscribers a month making it one of the world’s fastest growing mobile telephony markets, operators are fighting it out for space in the spectrum to develop their services and roll them out in rural areas.