Swan telecom to get spectrum ahead Tatas, Idea

NEW DELHI: Swan Telecom has emerged as a frontrunner in the priority list of spectrum, in Delhi and Mumbai circle, as per the seniority list prepared by the Department of Telecom.
    
Videocon Industries subsidiary Datacom is second in the list, followed by Tatas and Idea Cellular, to get start-up GSM spectrum.
    
Idea Cellular has warned the government that it should be considered ahead of others as its application for nine circles was pending since December 2006.
    
The government had last week issued Letters of Intent to nine companies for starting their mobile services. The firms had also deposited the requisite fees and bank guarantees with DoT that day itself, vying with each other for becoming the first applicant to get spectrum.
    
The government would follow a first-come-first-serve basis on payment of fees for allocation of spectrum, even if the seniority is by a fraction of a second.
    
Realty major Unitech, Spice Telecom, Shyam Telelink, STel and Loop Telecom (earlier known as Shippingstop Dotcom) are the last five firms in the list for spectrum.
    
Unitech, Shyam Telelink, Datacom and Loop telecom have been given LoIs for pan-India operations, while S Tel, Spice Telecom, Idea Cellular, Swan and Tata Teleservices have received LoIs for few circles.
    
Swan Telecom, which has been given LoIs for 13 circles, is on top for Delhi and Mumbai, but stands second last for the rest.