Koshika spectrum may be freed

Wireless Planning and Co-ordination wing has sought permission from the department of telecom to release the spectrum locked up by defunct mobile operator Koshika Telecom in four circles to new operators under the unified licence regime

The move would mean that cellular operators in the four circle of Uttar Pradesh (east and west), Bihar and Orissa would get additional spectrum in the more efficient 900 MHz frequency instead of the 1800 MHz. Koshika is holding 4.4 MHz spectrum in each of these circles.

In a note written to the department, the WPC has said "it is understood that letter of intent with regard to unified access licence have been issued to the mobile telecom service providers by DoT. The service providers are expected to sign licence agreements in several telecom circles, including in those circle where Koshika was licensed to provide cellular services. DoT is requested to apprise the WPC about status in this case so that a decision may be taken whether the spectrum assigned to Koshika in 4 circles may be allocated to other mobile service providers."

The beneficiaries from the move could be operators like Bharti and Essar Hutchison which have taken the LoI for unified access licence in some of these circles.

However, it would take some time before the spectrum held by Koshika would be released owing to an ongoing arbitration between the company and the DoT over the amount of licence fees.

Koshika had defaulted in payment of its licence fee which lead to cancellation of its licence by DoT.

While DoT had sort to encash the bank guarantee of the company for defaulting, Koshika took the legal recourse to settle the dispute.