The Telecom Commission has recommended that mobile phone carriers give up all their airwave holding in the superior 900 mega hertz band at the time of their permit renewals, a widely opposed move by the industry that it says will cost about $24 billion more in capital outlay.
The Telecom Commission's recommendations will have to be approved by a ministerial panel before they are implemented, telecoms secretary R. Chandrashekhar, who also chairs the commission, said on Wednesday.
Market leaders Bharti Airtel Ltd and Vodafone's India unit -- two of the country's oldest carriers -- will be hit the most by the proposed refarming or substituting of their more efficient 900 MHz band airwaves with inferior quality 1800 Mhz band airwaves starting in November 2014.
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