Spice warns government

Trouble on either side of the spectrum

Spice has applied for 20 Universal Access Service Licences (UASL) in August 2006, but has not heard on the matter from DoT even though according to procedure licences are to be issued in 30 days of the application.

GSM operator Idea Cellular also applied for licences in nine circles in June 2006.

Mobile services provider Spice Communications has warned the government against any manipulation of the priority list in the allocation of spectrum and demanded that letters of intent be issued immediately.

The Spice move follows a similar call by GSM operator Idea Cellular, which also sought letters of intent for nine pending Universal Access Service Licence (UASL) applications, that it said were "long overdue".

The dispute over spectrum comes up for hearing before the Delhi High Court on Thursday.

In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Monday, Spice said that manipulation in issuing spectrum "would constitute an illegality and cause irreparable damage and loss to our company".

"In this context, we wish to inform you that we are ready to make payments for the entry fees against the letters of intent due to us," Spice Communications said in its letter dated December 31, 2007.

The company applied for 20 UAS licences in August 2006. According to procedures, the licences are to be awarded within 30 days of application. But Spice has not heard anything on the matter yet.

Idea Cellular, the Aditya Birla group company, had applied for GSM mobile licences in nine circles on June 26, 2006 and cautioned DoT against allocating spectrum in these circles.

These service areas are Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Karnataka, Punjab, Orissa, West Bengal, Kolkata, Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir.

Idea has explained to the government that it has blocked financial resources for the licences, but "has been prevented from effecting payment solely because DoT has not issued the letters of intent".