Vodafone asks Govt to allocate spectrum urgently

Also says that the Government should extend the validity of the spectrum by six months

Vodafone India, the country's second largest cellular operator, on Thursday, said it has asked the government to immediately allocate spectrum that it has won in last auction in February. It has also said that the Government should extend the validity of the spectrum by six months.

The company has sought DoT response on its communication by October 10, Vodafone said.

"Vodafone India has formally requested the DoT and regulator Trai for immediate allotment of the 1800MHz spectrum, which it had won in auctions. Only seven weeks are left, when as per DoT, the presently deployed spectrum in 900MHz is to be replaced by 900MHz won in auctions," Vodafone India said in a statement on Thursday.

Vodafone India's operating permits for service zones in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are due to expire in November and the company had bought fresh spectrum in the same circles to continue operations. Bharti Airtel's licence in Delhi and Kolkata are also expiring in November.

"Despite several reminders, the spectrum has not been earmarked till now," Vodafone said. The company said it may have "repercussions bigger than any other quality of service issue seen in the history of mobile telecom in India". Vodafone had more than 20 million subscribers in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata till July.

"This changeover under normal circumstances could take at least six months after the earmarking of frequencies. DoT is also on record saying that looking at the technical and implementation issues, it is observed that 6 months period may not be sufficient to migrate the network from 9,00 MHz to 1,800 MHz band on extension of licences," it said.

Under the current situation, the company noted, with very little time left and spectrum frequencies not assigned on the prescribed date is bound to considerably impact services despite best efforts by the company round the clock. "The public cannot afford any loss of service because of these changeovers not getting completed due to non-earmarking of spectrum in 1800MHz band by DoT," Vodafone said.