The Department of Telecom (DoT) is considering allowing the telecom operators to share radio waves to tackle the problem of network congestion and poor connectivity.
“The DoT is looking at the proposal to allow sharing of spectrum. We have referred the matter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. They will give us a comprehensive report,” Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura told journalists here on Tuesday at a Centre for Development of Telematics function.
The rapid expansion of the 2G mobile subscriber base, with monthly additions of over one crore subscribers every month, was causing connectivity problems for the big operators, who were facing spectrum shortage. However, new operators enjoyed the leverage of having vacant spectrum, as their subscriber base was gradually increasing.
The government hoped to end this mismatch and find a solution to the current scarcity of spectrum — which is likely to remain till all 2G subscribers migrated to the 3G technology — by exploring the possibility of spectrum sharing among operators. If cleared, the arrangement would allow the smaller mobile operators to share spectrum with the big players.
