Delicensing 470-698 Mhz band will cause loss to exchequer:COAI

Telecom industry body COAI has said delicensing parts of spectrum in 470-698 Mhz band, used for TV white space technology, will cause considerable amount of loss to the exchequer and distort the market.
Quoting media reports, COAI said the Department of Telecom (DoT) is considering delicensing some portion of 470-698 Mhz band for access services and formulation of a roadmap for implementation of TV white spaces for broadband applications.
The industry body said in case DoT decides to go ahead with its consideration, the decision should be communicated before release of notice inviting application (NIA) for auction of 700 MHz band, so that telcos can bid in an informed manner.

TV whitespace technology utilises part of spectrum that remains unused while transmitting broadcast signals.
The technology is being developed in 470-582 Mhz band to utilise it for commercial mobile services.
Microsoft is believed to have approached the DoT to experiment use of the unutilised airwaves space for delivering wireless broadband.

The GSM operators' body said in order to create a level playing field for service providers providing similar services, this spectrum band should be made available to licenced players only.
"Creating an entry for any specific player by delicensing any part of this band, will not only create distortion in the market but will also cause considerable amount of loss to the exchequer," COAI said in a letter to DoT Secretary JS Deepak.

The industry body said in India, there is no TV white spaces, as this spectrum is simply unused by Doordarshan, therefore, "the very term white spaces, is a misnomer."
It further said allocating spectrum for a particular technology is against the government's own policy of spectrum being liberalised and usable in any technology.
"We also believe that allocating spectrum in 470-698 Mhz band in a delicensed manner will result in inefficient usage of this spectrum," it said, adding there would be no incentive to use spectrum more efficiently and there would be no control over unlicensed usage of devices.