Isps, Dot Up In Arms Over Wimax !

[Honest 836]

ISPs, DoT up in arms over WiMax

NEW DELHI: Internet service providers (ISPs) like Sify and Spectranet are up in arms following the government’s decision to take back the 2.5 GHz WiMax spectrum allotted to them.

ISPs claim they had already firmed up investment plans and ordered equipment when the Department of Telecom (DoT) shot a letter asking them to return the spectrum. The ISP Association is going to court over the government’s decision.

“We will be going to court against the government’s notice. We had already started our commercial pilots and will incur a commercial loss due to the government’s decision. Now, auctioning of the spectrum could lead to inflation in Internet service charges, which is not a good thing for India as we are still poorly developed in terms of broadband penetration,” says Sify’s president for consumer infrastructure Naresh Ajwani.

The government had allotted 2.5 GHz spectrum (for mobile wireless broadband) in 2003 to seven players including Bharti, R-Com, HCL Infinet, Sify and Spectranet.

But now the government has issued them a notice to return the spectrum. The government plans to put forth the 2.5 GHz spectrum for auction for a base price of about Rs 550 crore. It will be about one-fourth the bidding price which is fixed at about Rs 2,200 crore for a pan-India licence, according to DoT guidelines.

“The government should come forward and talk to industry players to resolve this tangle. Some players who have already started offering wireless broadband to corporate customers based on the spectrum allotted and ordered equipment will suffer a loss. There’s no way any ISP will be able to shell out Rs 550 crore for a WiMax spectrum,” says advisor to Spectranet, Amitabh Singhal.

“It’s like changing the rules of the game just when a match is going to start. It will only lead to increase in valuations of universal access licence holders (UASL) or the telecom operators, who will hoard the WiMax spectrum. We will be going to court against the DoT decision,” said Internet Service Providers Association of India president Rajesh Charria.

Courtesy : Indiatimes

[Honest 836]

ISPs too want DoT to review WiMAX policy

16 Aug, 2008, 0037 hrs IST, ET

NEW DELHI: After telecom regulator TRAI and the finance ministry, the department of telecom (DoT) is set to face further opposition to its WiMAX auction policy. The Internet Service Providers Association of India, the body representing all standalone ISPs, has decided to ask the DoT to review the WiMAX policy, failing which it plans to haul the communications ministry to the telecom tribunal. “We will approach the DoT over this issue next week,” ISPAI president Rajesh Charia told ET.

First, standalone ISPs do not want the base price for the WiMAX auction to be linked to that of 3G. At present, the policy stipulates that the base price for WiMAX spectrum auction will be 25% of that for 3G radio frequencies — this implies, the reserve price of a pan-India WiMAX licence comes to about Rs 505 crore.

“WiMAX is predominantly for wireless high speed internet or broadband services where the platform of usage is computers. On the other hand, 3G is for mobile services,” explained Mr Charia. According to him, if the auctions are carried out as per the base price proscribed in the policy, no ISP would be able to bid. “A minimum of one slot must be reserved for standalone ISPs. Here only ISPs should be permitted to bid against each other,” he added. ISPAI wants an alternate formula where its members be charged only 25% of the highest bid that a telco makes for WiMAX spectrum in that particular circle during the auction.

Meanwhile, as reported by ET first, ISPs such as Sify and Spectranet are also planning to haul the communications ministry to the courts over the government’s decision to take back the 2.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum allotted to them. Any move by ISPs to go to the courts over these issues could delay the WiMAX spectrum auctions which are scheduled to take place by the year-end. Besides, the DoT can only go ahead with the auction if ISPs vacate the radio frequencies they hold in the 2.5 GHz band.