Information ministry to vacate 700 MHz spectrum: Sibal
March 5th, 2012 - 10:50 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, March 5 (IANS) The Information and Broadcasting (I&B;) Ministry has agreed to vacate the 700 MHz band for fourth-generation (4G) services, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said Monday after a meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to discuss vacation of spectrum.
“I&B; has agreed to vacate that band. Vacation of the spectrum by Ministry of Defence will be resolved by next week. An alternative network for defence forces has been resolved,” Sibal told reporters.
The I&B; ministry will be vacating 700 MHz band while the defence ministry is expected to vacate 1,700 MHz to 2,000 MHZ band.
The government is committed to carry out the auction of 4G bandwidth before March next year. The 700 MHz band is said to be the most efficient and cost-effective frequency band for delivering wireless broadband.
The telecom ministry has also agreed to set up an alternate communication network for defence based on optical fibre network.
According to an agreement earlier signed between the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Ministry of Defence, the armed forces had agreed to vacate 25 MHz of 3G spectrum and 20 MHz of 2G while DoT would set up dedicated network for the use of defence forces.
However, the project was stuck owing to financial constraints.
The forces use troposcatters as primary means of military communications and thereby occupy huge and expensive 2G and 3G which could otherwise be used for civilian wireless communication network.
The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was also attended by Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Defence Minister A.K. Antony.
- EGoM to recommend spectrum price, but cabinet to take call - Jul 20, 2012
- Cabinet okays Rs.14,000 crore spectrum reserve price (Lead) - Aug 03, 2012
- 2G spectrum base price decision deferred till Friday (Lead) - Jul 18, 2012
- Telecom EGoM to recommend lower reserve price to cabinet for approval (Lead) - Jul 20, 2012
- TRAI sets high base price for 2G auction, operators cry foul (Lead) - Apr 23, 2012
- EGoM on telecom approves spectrum mortgaging (Lead) - Jul 12, 2012
- EGoM on 2G spectrum deferred - Jun 21, 2012
- Government wants 2G auction deadline extended to November - Aug 07, 2012
- EGoM on telecom approves spectrum mortgaging - Jul 12, 2012
- No decision on 2G pricing, EGoM favours refarming spectrum - Jun 05, 2012
- EGoM to decide on spectrum pricing Thursday - Jun 20, 2012
- EGoM to take final call on pricing and refarming of spectrum - May 26, 2012
- Chidambaram expected to head EGoM on spectrum - Jul 06, 2012
- DoT to meet operators on spectrum reserve price - Jul 13, 2012
- Operators want total spectrum available to be auctioned - Mar 22, 2012
Tags: alternative network, ambika soni, defence forces, defence ministry, finance minister, financial constraints, frequency band, home minister, information ministry, kapil sibal, mhz band, mhz spectrum, military communications, montek singh ahluwalia, optical fibre network, p chidambaram, pranab mukherjee, telecom ministry, wireless broadband, wireless communication network