The dominance of GSM in the mobile space in India seems to have rolled over to policy making decisions in the country as well since the DoT has reportedly failed to mention any specific spectrum for auctioning for 3G services required by the CDMA players.

DoT’s draft policy has only mentioned 2.1MHz band for auctioning which is ideal for GSM-based 3G services. CDMA players will ideally desire to have spectrum in the 800 MHz or even 1900 MHz and 450 MHz for 3G services since EVDO technology is supposed to operate best on these frequencies.

Currently there are four major CDMA players in the country namely Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, BSNL and Shyam Telelink. DoT’s draft reportedly proposes these operators to pay a fraction of the amount as paid by GSM operators for 3G spectrum. The problem with this formula lies in the fact that there are only two slots available in the 800MHz for the four operators. In the wake of lack of specific guidelines on auctioning of this band the fate of all the four CDMA players hangs in balance.

CDMA players have frequency in the 800MHz band and are ready to offer 3G services on this band. But the DoT is strictly against the move as it feels that it may lead to a issue of level playing field against GSM operators.