India's Department of Telecommunications has quietly allocated scarce spectrum to state-owned BSNL to conduct tests in 3G.
Observers say the move could give BSNL an unfair advantage over private telecom players, which are aiming to launch similar services.
The allocation of spectrum was mentioned in a government paper that called for a meeting to discuss various spectrum related issues.
The note names only BSNL as the recipient of 5 + 5 MHz spectrum in the 2-GHz band for carrying out experiments in Pune, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Coimbatore.
Most telecom companies had, over the last six months, made applications for allocation of spectrum for 3G experiments along with equipment vendors like Ericsson and Lucent.