Telecom panel to take up cordless systems issue on Nov 7

A DoT panel's report includes its views on Trai proposals and alternatives that may be discussed with defence authorities on CTS

The Telecom Commission, which is the highest decision making authority within the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), is likely to deliberate on the report of an internal committee of the DoT on recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Allocation of Spectrum Resources for Residential and Enterprise Intra-telecommunication Requirements/Cordless telecommunications Systems (CTS). A meeting is scheduled on November 7.

The report of the DoT committee includes its views on Trai recommendations and possible alternatives that may be discussed with the defence authorities on CTS.

Earlier, the defence authorities had expressed concerns on the Trai recommendations proposing de-licencing of the 20-MHz spectrum in the 1880-1900 MHz band for cordless communication services. Following concerns of the Defence, the DoT committee had proposed that CTS be strictly confined to indoor usage with no inter-building operations being permitted.

It was also stated that the Engineering Centre (TEC) could develop national standards to ensure that usage gets restricted to indoor applications within 10 MHz as a possible alternative. TEC might also set the standards after field trials with defence experts monitoring the same. Once the standards are set by TEC, the government would support domestic manufacturers to develop cordless systems.

Earlier, the DoT committee rejected Trai's proposal to de-license 20 MHz of spectrum in the 1,880-1,900 MHz band for CTS, as defence authorities expressed serious concerns that these threaten to undermine the interests of the armed forces. The committee has suggested that a maximum of 10 MHz can be taken up for de-licensing after addressing concerns of the defence authorities. Currently, 300 units in the1,700-2,000 MHz band are equally divided between DoT and the armed forces.