SINGAPORE-Underscoring the fact that the CDMA vs. GSM technology war is still under way, the GSM Association Tuesday encouraged the Indian government to veto a proposal to release 1900 MHz spectrum for current-generation services and maintain its alignment with the IMT2000 core band for third-generation services.
TRAI, the Indian regulator, is considering a proposal to release spectrum at 1900 MHz to operators of second-generation mobile services. However, the upper band is part of the International Telecommunication Union-defined spectrum for 3G services and has been allocated as such in many countries.
The GSMA told the Indian telecom regulator that releasing 1900 MHz spectrum would “effectively isolate India from the global mobile market” and claimed the spectrum “not only favors specific technologies, but also directly overlaps and clashes with the ITU band reserved globally for 3G services.”
CDMA-based “limited mobility” carriers are in a fierce rivalry with India’s GSM-based mobile carriers for subscribers in India’s lucrative wireless market.
