From correspondents in Delhi, India, 09:01 PM IST

The government Monday said there were no differences between the defence and the communications and IT ministries over the issue of vacation of spectrum.

Minister of State for Communications and IT Jyotiraditya Scindia told Lok Sabha that the work of laying optical fibre cable (OFC) network for the Indian Air Force (IAF) was in progress.

Providing OFC network will fulfil the communication requirement of the defence sector, Scindia said.

The details for allocation of defence sector spectrum to private telecom operators will be worked out only after getting the spectrum vacated, he said.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) expects defence ministry to release at least 25-30 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum for the third generation (3G) services. It had earlier demanded the ministry release 45 MHz.

The defence ministry wants an alternative network for its three armed forces to release 45 MHz of spectrum for 2G and 3G services.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)