The telecom industry, which has been one of the clear winners of India's reforms process, suddenly finds itself in the limelight, albeit for the wrong reason: the spectrum controversy that threatens to do more harm than good to the industry. Where will the fight take the industry and, more importantly, the two warring groups—GSM and CDMA operators?

The fight is just getting murkier as GSM (Global System for Mobile) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) players refuse to budge from their stand even an inch, literally. The two sections of operators are contesting each other's claim over spectrum—the electromagnetic radio frequencies used by the mobile telecom service providers in transmission of voice and data. However, it is not difficult to understand the reason behind the current impasse. The conflict for getting additional frequency becomes deeper mainly due to, one, the country's burgeoning mobile subscriber base which has crossed the milestone of 200 million, and two, the escalating competition among the service providers to prove their mettle in the struggle for customer retention and acquisition by offering value-added services to a greater extent possible. But the ugly turn the conflict has taken of late puts a big question mark over the growth prospect of the world's fastest growing mobile market, especially as the country is set to witness the launch of the 3G (Third Generation) services.

While the rivalry between the CDMA operators led by Reliance Communications (RCOM) and the Tatas on the one hand, and the GSM operators led by Bharti Airtel and Idea on the other hand, has been going on for a long time, it has only intensified in recent times as RCOM revealed its plan to offer dual technology (offering both CDMA as well as GSM services to customers). The revelation has the GSM operators on the offensive as they allege that the telecom policy has been jerked to favor RCOM, offering it a significant chunk of spectrum, which will hardly leave any spectrum for GSM operators. The GSM operators had earlier sought the Prime Minister's intervention to arrive at an amicable solution.

The Analyst Magazine, Spectrum Scuffle, Telecom industry, Global System for Mobile,GSM, Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA, CDMA, Reliance Communications, RCOM, Airtel, Idea, Telecommunication Engineering Center, TEC, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI, Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal, TDSAT, National Telecom Policy, Mobile telephony segment.