`GSM players stopping new entrants`

In a move set to fuel the ongoing feud over the interconnectivity issue, the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Auspi), the CDMA operators’ body, has accused GSM operators of preventing entry of new players.

Auspi also alleged that GSM operators were preventing entry of Reliance Communications (RCom) and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) into the GSM sector, even though the government had given them the go-ahead.

“The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) has been trying to stop fresh competition in the cellular market in every possible way,” Auspi said in a letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

The letter, signed by Auspi Secretary General S C Khanna said: “It (COAI) has opposed every single move of the government to encourage competition, including issue of fresh 2G licences, permitting existing operators to use cross-over technology, tightening of spectrum allocation norms and mobile number portability.”