India might be leading in the telecom revolution, but its neighbouring countries are adopting newer technology faster.

Following the footsteps of Indian telecom industry, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh seem to have learned a lesson on early implementation of the third-generation (3G) mobile services to sustain growth. Whereas, in India, the country is still using second-generation (2G) technology at a time when third-generation (3G) phones have been accepted and implemented globally.

These countries seem to have leapfrogged the telecom revolution by introducing the 3G policy, while the Indian government has been hankering for release of spectrum from the defence forces. Nepal too has initiated the move for 3G services. The ministry of communications and IT has been missing deadlines one after the other, for allocating 3G spectrum for the country’s telecom sector. Since the last two years, the government has missed umpteen numbers of commitments made for the allocation of the 3G spectrum.

According to B V Raman, country head, CDMA Development Group (CDG), the process here has run into hurdles. “We are already delayed. A number of SAARC countries have launched the 3G services and moving ahead with the technology. If we see from a global perspective, India has a lot of space to grow, but delay in launching the 3G services is holding the operators to launch new services,” said Raman.

Bharti Airtel Lanka Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel is investing in Sri Lanka to launch 2G and 3G services. The operator has announced an investment of $200 million in the next five years to offer its services. The company is all set to launch its services in a couple of months.

“The time is ripe for India to launch 3G. We are well-timed to launch the services. Wireless broadband will be the next big growth this sector will witness,” said Sanjay Kapoor, president, Mobility Bharti Airtel. He added that Bharti has received license to offer 3G services in Sri Lanka, Jersey and Seychelles.