Move over to 4G?

It's the latest twist in the sordid saga of 3G (third generation phone service) auctions. Law Minister Veerappa Moily has now queered the pitch by asserting that the Department of Telecommunications could not sell something it did not own. Moily's point is that the 2.1 Gigahertz spectrum band required to offer 3G services is currently occupied by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This means that any auction will not take place before July-August 2010. The 3G deadlock in India continues even as the world is now already gearing up to move to the next-generation network—4G.

FLIP-FLOPS ON 3G BY THE UPA

September 2006: Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran promises to have 3G mobile services operating by the end of 2007.

May 2007: Andimuthu Raja takes over from Maran and trashes his predecessor's work on 3G.

September 2008: MTNL and BSNL are allotted 3G spectrum. Private operators made to wait.

January 2009: The Union Cabinet decides to stall 3G auction till after the general election.

July 2009: DoT sets 3G auction process into motion and in September announces it will take place on December 7.

October 2009: December auction pushed back to February 2010, while the MoD continues to refuse to vacate 3G airwaves.

January 2010: Law Minister Veerappa Moily puts the final spanner in the works.

Postscript: This begs the question — should India move directly to 4G wireless broadband technology? Kunal Bajaj, Managing Director, BDA Connect, a telecom consultancy, thinks that it is still too premature, but adds: "If things get delayed till 2011, then it could be an option."