Sistema JSFC, the Indian telecommunications arm of the Russian conglomerate, has received additional spectrum of 1.25 MHz from the Government of India. Therefore we can expect the company will soon be offering very high speed data services in eight circles. Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) that operates under the MTS Brand and offers voice and data services said that the government has issued it the third carrier in the 800 MHz spectrum band, using which it will be able to offer data services to more customers. In March this year, SSTL had received three carriers of 1.25 Mhz each in eight circles of Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata , Tamil Nadu, UP (West) and West Bengal. In addition to that, SSTL already has three carriers of spectrum within 800 MHz band in its Rajasthan circle and already provides Rev B Phase II data services, with speeds up to 10 Mbps, within the same circle.

SSTL chief Dmitry Shukov said, "Our long wait to get the third carrier, post the spectrum auctions in March 2013 is finally over. Looking ahead, our plan is to acquire at least 5 MHz of contiguous spectrum within the 800 MHz spectrum band." The development comes within a week of the company receiving unified licence that allows it to offer any kind of service to its customers in the country using technology neutral spectrum for 20 years.

We sincerely believe that the rates of data services in India - an ever growing market of mobile internet users - should go down. As the data service becomes cheaper, the mobile services are going to find a higher penetration in small and big cities in India. "Looking ahead, our plan is to acquire at least 5 MHz of contiguous spectrum within the 800 MHz spectrum band," Mr. Shukov added. This will allow the company to offer LTE services, maybe as early as 2015.