Telecommunications

Background, Technologies, Spectrum

Background – TelecomO In 1881, Oriental Telephone Company Limited of

England opened telephones exchangesO In 1975 Department of Telecom (DoT) separated from

Indian Post & TelecommunicationO In 1985 , MTNL was chipped out of DoT to run the

telecom services of Delhi and MumbaiO In 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the

Government for private investmentO In1997 TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)

was setupO In 2000, BSNL came into existenceO In 2004-07, GSM & CDMA spectrum allottedO In 2008, 3G services came into IndiaO In 2012 ,India has the world's second-largest mobile

phone user base

What is Telecommunications?

O It is exchange of information over significant distances by electronic means

O Mobile phones, satellite phones, landline, TV , radio

O A basic mobile telecommunication system consists of three primary units – Transmitter, Transmitter Medium & Receiver

GSM/CDMA

GSM CDMA

Divide bandwidth in to time slots Unique code for every user separately and allocate bandwidth

900 , 1800 & 1900 MHz 450, 800 & 1900 MHz

Less signal deterioration inside buildings

Consumes less power and covers large areas

Ability to use repeaters Likelihood of dropped calls is less

International roaming is not a problem

Generally unable to roam internationally

Interferes with some electronics, especially certain audio amplifiers

Less interference problems

2G, 3G ,4G

2G 3G 4G

Digitally encrypted Mobile Internet access

Mobile web access

Greater penetration levels

Video calls  IP telephony

Data services for mobile

Mobile TV Gaming services

Helps mobile batteries to last long 

Download speed of around 200Kbps

High-definition mobile TV

2.5G - GPRS started Location based services

Video conferencing

2.75 – EDGE started Video on demand 3D television

2G standard – GSM & CDMA

3G standards - GSM & CDMA

4G standards – WiMax & LTE – Still in development mode

Frequency, WavelengthO Frequency - Rate at which something

occurs or is repeated over a particular period of time

O Unit of Frequency -Hertz – Cycles per second

O Wavelength – Distance from one amplitude of frequency wave to other

O Frequency = velocity/wavelength

Telecom Bodies - IndiaO TRAI - Central government's regulatory

bodyO DOT -Part of the Ministry of

CommunicationO Telecom Disputes Settlement and

Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)O COAI – non government – GSM service

providersO AUSPI - non government – CDMA service

providers

SpectrumO "Spectrum" is the range of radio

frequencies available for wavelengths.

O In India, the radio frequencies are arbitrarily confined between 9kHz and 3000 GHz

O Requires the application of complex engineering tools

O Not consumed upon its usage

Spectrum and Mobile Telephone services

O GSM - 900 and 1800 MHzO CDMA - 800 MHz bandO International roaming facilities -

common bands are usedO Spectrum for the roll out of 3G

services - 2.1 GHz

Allocation & Need of Spectrum

O The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

O Allocations are made on a regional basis and for different types of services

O It is mandatory for all administrations to adhere to these allocations

O Proposals are discussed and decisions are taken

O Ensure interference free operation for each radio service

Spectrum Allotment Procedure - India

O DoT has evolved guidelines O Allotment of extra spectrum, based

on the justification and fulfillment of the prescribed criteria

O Different categories of service areas, average traffic per subscriber, number of base stations in a specified area

Spectrum IssueO From 2004-07, additional spectrum of up to 10

MHz was allotted to incumbents at nil price, limiting availability to newer operators

O In some cases, 6.2 Mhz was allocated up-front, even though the start-up spectrum was 4.4 MHz

O TRAI announced recommendations for dual technology in August 2007

O Reliance, Shyam, HFCL, TTSL, BSNL and MTNL became eligible for GSM spectrum

Spectrum IssueO Reliance, HFCL and Shyam had speculatively

applied in 2006 and were issued approval a day before public announcement of the Policy

O COAI filed their petition against Dual TechnologyO Delhi High Court observed that the UAS license

was technology neutral and that in September 1999, MTNL license had been amended to allow use of dual technology. They upheld the dual tech policy and did not find anything wrong in 3 applicants getting approvals before the public announcement of the policy

Spectrum IssueO Most current allocation completed by the

time new guidelines were announced in Jan 2008. Difficult to get additional allocations of spectrum even up to the contracted level of 6.2 MHz

Spectrum IssueO 9 operators were allotted spectrum

beyond the limit laid down in the UASL agreement

O As per the CAG, while the DoT was not processing pending license applications due to non availability of spectrum, it was allotting spectrum to existing operators beyond the contracted limit without any charges or without determination of market price of spectrum

Spectrum Issue – TTSL View

O In 2004, criteria for CDMA is changedO Max. entitlement was 5 MhzO CDMA operators had to have 4-12 lac. subscribers

for 5 MHz but for GSM no conditions upto 6.2 MHzO In January 2008, Reliance got GSM spectrum in all

circles. O TTSL applied after policy was announced and had

to wait for 83 days till January 2008 for approval. TTSL paid Rs.1,659 crores the same day but is still waiting for startup GSM spectrum in Delhi and 39 districts spread over 9 circles. TTSL is in TDSAT since Sep 2010

Suggested SolutionO All operators must first be given their minimal

contractual entitlement of 6. 2 Mhz of GSM spectrumO If this means some of the excess spectrum allocated to

existing operators has to be returned and re-distributed, then that must be done

O TRAI has recommended reframing of 900 MHz spectrum by providing incumbent operators equivalent bandwidth in the 1800 MHz band and auctioning the 900 MHz spectrum vacated by them

O Incumbent GSM operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have vehemently opposed the reframing of 900 MHz spectrum. They argue that there will be an additional burden of capex in setting up tower sites and infrastructure that they will have to bear.

2G ScamO In 2008, 122 licenses issued to telecom

operators with limited experienceO No auctions were heldO 85 license are illegal & don’t fulfill criteriaO Unitech – Telenor, Swan – EtisalatO Reliance, Airtel got extra spectrum costing

Govt. $8billion.O $39 billion in lost revenueO Investments made alreadyO FDI threat

Vodafone Tax CaseO Vodafone Holdings bought CGP Investment

Holdsing from Hutchisson (HTIL) forn 11.1$ billion at Cayman Island (UK)

O Hutchisson Essar Ltd. had its stake in CGP ,Vodafone got 52% of stake in 2007

O Bombay High Court issued order against Vodafone

O Rs. 12,000 crore as tax to be paidO Effects FDI , India already ranked at 134 by

World BankO Supreme court issued statement in favour of

Vodafone

National Telecom Policy -2012

O Rural Tele density – To improve rural teledensity from the current level of around 39 to 70 by the year 2017 and 100 by the year 2020

O Broadband – “’Broadband For All” at a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps

O Domestic Manufacturing - Making India a global hub

O Convergence of Network, Services and Devices

O Liberalization of Spectrum - any Service in any Technology

National Telecom Policy -2012

O Simplification of Licensing regime - Unified Licensing, delinking of Spectrum from License, Online real time submission and processing

O Consumer Focus - Achieve One Nation – Full Mobile Number Portability and work towards One Nation – Free Roaming

O Resale of Services O VOIP – Voice over Internet Protocol O Cloud Computing – Next Generation

Network including IPV6

Thank YouO Presented By:O Sahil Raina