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India to Opt for Two Step 3G
(22 Apr 2008, BWCS Staff)The department of telecommunications in India will auction 3G licences for the country in two phases, reports the Indian business newspaper, the Economic Times. The first round will be launched before the end of this year, the paper says, while the second will be held back until March 2009.
The problem is that some of the spectrum to be used for 3G in the subcontinent is reserved for military use and will not be freed up until March next year. However, the government has already promised that it will sell off 3Glicences before the end of 2008. So the two-part licence sale is a bid to save face by the current administration.
The first phase will involve a limited auction of spectrum that is currently controlled by the Indian Air Force. In order to placate the flyers the government plans to ensure that an alternative defence network, being constructed by BSNL, and due to connect up 160 Air Force bases and offices, will be finished by the end of 2008.
The army and the navy will hand over their 3G spectrum after March next year. After that the government will hold a second lot of 3G auctions. It is widely expected that the limited nature of the auctions means that only three operators will be granted a licence in the first phase. In several circles, the number may be limited to just one or two players, as the 3G spectrum available will not be uniform across the country.
In March of this year Virgin Mobile announced a deal to start offering services in India. The company said it had an agreement with Tata Teleservices to launch a mobile phone service aimed at the youth market in India using the Virgin Mobile brand name. Tata already operates a CDMA-based mobile network.
Virgin Mobile said the new service will target the country's youth, aged between 15 and 30 years old. According to estimates this sector is around 400 million strong in India. The UK-based mobile group said it has no plans to construct its own network or purchase an Indian infrastructure, as Vodafone did recently. Interestingly the deal is not being described as an MVNO agreement; instead, Virgin will merely take a share of the revenue in return for Tata using its brand name. Tata will continue to use its own brand for its services, but will simply launch Virgin Mobile aimed at younger customers.
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