Tensions between private telecom players and the government ratcheted up a notch after it was discovered that state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited was given additional spectrum of up to 10 MHz for GSM technology services in over 16 circles even as private competitors have been waiting to be allotted spectrum by the Department of Telecommunications since December 2006.

GSM operators say this is a clear violation of government assurances of a "level playing field" between private and state-owned operators on the question of allocation of spectrum, the radio frequencies that enable wireless communication.

The issue came to light a few days ago when BSNL issued a circular to its chief general managers in various circles saying the management had decided to use the additional spectrum commercially with immediate effect.

DoT granted the company additional spectrum between March and July this year.

The allocation covers circles which include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Chennai, Haryana, Kolkata, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, eastern and western Uttar Pradesh amongst others.

In most of these circles, spectrum has been granted in the range of 2 to 3.8 MHz.

The issue was brought to the notice of Communications Minister A Raja by the GSM operators' lobby, Cellular Operators Association of India, at a ministerial meet in New Delhi on Friday.

Confirming the additional allocation, a top BSNL executive said: "There is nothing wrong in this; we have been given spectrum according to the guidelines."

GSM operators, however, complain that many of them are yet to hear from DoT on their nine-month-old applications.

Companies like Aircel, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular [Get Quote] were collectively granted 22 universal access service licences, which allows them to offer both GSM and CDMA technology services, in December 2006.

The spectrum issue has become even more serious with DoT having received over 300 applications for UASLs.

With players ranging from real estate (Omaxe, Unitech, Parsvnath), steel major like Ispat Industries [Get Quote] and little-known IT companies in the race, much hinges on the defence ministry vacating 25 MHz of spectrum.