According to top officials in the Department of Telecommunications, the spectrum allocated to Devas Multimedia to conduct trials of its broadband services is likely to be withdrawn soon. If that happens, Devas will have to apply for a full-fledged licence for spectrum usage. Devas had to apply for trial spectrum to conduct pilot studies for its services. Since ISRO is yet to launch the two satellites on which Devas has taken up capacity, the company does not yet have access to the spectrum that comes along with the transponders.
DoT officials argue that at a time when the government is looking to price all spectrum, it will be difficult for Devas Multimedia to get airwaves without making additional payments. The other option for the company is to use unlicensed spectrum in the 2400 Mhz band or 3300 Mhz band. But that can result in interference with the signals of other users. Even if Devas is ready to pay for spectrum, the question of the basis of the pricing will remain.
Although the company plans primarily to deploy satellite technology to offer broadband, it wants to use terrestrial spectrum for indoor and dense-area coverage. Right from 1995 it is the Department of Telecommunications that has decided who can use the airwaves to provide voice and data services. In the case of Devas Multimedia, the company has got into a partnership with ISRO — which would be perceived to be a backdoor entry into the broadband market.
Keywords: S-band spectrum deal, ISRO, Antrix, Devas Multimedia, Department of Space, CAG probe, DoT
the whole fuss about spectrum allocation is disheartening. The cost in terms of the price of 3G is crap mainly because of the number of value added services one can provide on that platform. Every country needs to develop new technology and develop alternate means to work. How much spectrum is enough for all the headsets we have in India (also allowing competition) should be the criterion for what DoT controls. Spectrum is a rare commodity and should be used for lot more than talking on the phone. If pricing is entirely based on money government can make, I don't see research happening, new technologies being tried and new ways of communication developing. Just looking at the price and not the capacity for future and utility to public is a very narrow view. Also putting a price tag like 200,000 crore based is just a wrong extrapolation.
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