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New Delhi , Aug. 31

THE Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday expressed concern over discriminatory spectrum practices against GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) cellular operators. The cellular operators expressed `distress and disappointment' that despite months of ongoing submissions to the Department of Telecom, including to the Spectrum Committee, the concerns of the GSM operators had not been addressed.

Mr T. V. Ramachandran, Director General, COAI, said, "It was a glaring anomaly and inequity that for the same subscriber base of 10 lakh, GSM operators have to pay 4 per cent of their revenues as spectrum usage charges, while the CDMA operators have to pay only 2 per cent."

COAI said that since the average revenue per user is approximately the same for both GSM and CDMA, it is "irrational, illogical and unfair" to impose a double spectrum levy on the GSM players and their consumers.

"Another aspect of serious discrimination is with respect to the number of cell sites required to be set up by GSM and CDMA operators. It is clear that the CDMA operators are under-utilising their allotted spectrum as per the present allotment spectrum criteria. "CDMA operators are permitted to get away with 50 per cent utilisation of their allotted spectrum by setting up less than half the cell sites as compared to GSM," Mr Ramachandran said.

COAI said that in Delhi, large GSM players had to set up over 900 cell sites each to derive the maximum capacity out of their allotted spectrum. On the other hand, the largest CDMA player, who had set up only around 350 cell sites, was seeking additional spectrum from the Government rather than investing in cell sites to increase the efficient utilisation of the existing allotment.

Mr Ramachandran estimated that the additional sites set up by the GSM operator had created an additional burden of around Rs 250 crore and a recurring operational expenditure of about Rs 4 crore a month.

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