Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is understood to have taken a decision to recommend auction of spectrum for the launch of next generation (3G) mobile services.
Trai is in process to make recommendations to Department of Telecom on how to allocate spectrum to mobile operators for 3G services.
According to sources, Trai held its meeting prior to recommendations given to DoT and a consensus was arrived at that the spectrum, which is a scarce commodity, should be allocated only through auction process.
To begin with, Trai is of the view that only five mobile operators should be given the frequency.
All these five operators should be among the existing players. If these recommendations were considered by DoT then mobile operators, having pan-India presence, stand good chance to get the permission and the required spectrum to start 3G services.
Currently, Bharti, Hutch, Reliance, Tatas and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited are the major five operators who have country-wide presence of mobile services.
Among these Reliance and Tata are offering CDMA based mobile services while other operate in GSM technology.
Sources said Trai has also suggested 2100 Mhz band for the 3G mobile services.
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