The Department of Telecom (DoT) is expecting defence ministry to soon vacate the spectrum for mobile services, including 3G, as discussions with the armed forces are in final stages, a senior ministry official said on Wednesday.
“DoT is expecting the release of spectrum from the defence any time soon for mobile and 3G service, for which discussions with the armed forces are in final stages,” Additional Secretary (Telecom) R Bandyopadhyay told reporters on the sidelines of an Assocham seminar.
“An alternate network, which defence will use to release spectrum for communication services, is being prepared…it may take maximum two months time to be completed,” he said.
The defence ministry is expected to release 42.5 Mhz of spectrum for voice as well as 3G services. There were problems in the process as the forces demanded a very upgraded network from DoT, which would have shot its original budget estimate of Rs 980 crore by another Rs 3,000 crore.
3G spectrum will allow subscribers to access voice, video and data services on their cell phones.