India’s wait for 3G continues to go on and on. While globally developed markets are gradually evolving to 4G with talks of LTE adoption doing the rounds, Indian consumers still eagerly wait to get a taste of 3G services. And in all likelihood this wait is set for prolonged delay.

The Cabinet Committee which was supposed to review the policy framework subsequent to DoT request has in turn decided to refer it to a Group of Ministers (GoM). The DoT had referred the guidelines for review to the Cabinet in a bid to avoid any possible controversies in future pertaining to policy decisions. It is already facing flak for 2G related decisions. The Cabinet Committee too seems to be in a similar thought of mind.

Issues with regards to base price of 3G and BWA spectrum are cited as one among other issues for the delay.

The auction has already been postponed twice with January 30 the latest announced date before this development. But the cabinet move has certainly cast a doubt on whether the auction will actually take place within the tenure of the present UPA government.

To make matters worse, yesterday also saw the Election Commission suggesting April-May as tentative dates for Lok Sabha elections. With election code of conduct also set to come into picture, politicians may tend to avoid participation in any potential controversial policy decision.

This leaves one wondering if 3G will enter India soon. An auction now will require around 6-8 months for operators to rollout services. This one assumes is the ideal situation, but unlikely to happen with the cabinet decision and anticipated delay. If the auction goes beyond the tenure of the present government than 3G will not enter India in 2009.

Policy related talks for 3G services have been doing the rounds since 2005 but as things stand today the government could not work out a comprehensive framework all these years.

The sad part emerging out of the whole issue is that the government agencies in their eagerness to play it extremely safe are eventually denying Indian mobile consumers an enhanced experience of advanced and feature rich services which consumers elsewhere in the world are enjoying for the last so many years now.