New Delhi, May 16: The Congress-led Union government plans to roll out third generation (3G) mobile services before the end of its tenure in May 2009.

“The next generation telecom services will be a reality before May 2009,” telecom minister A. Raja said.

The minister has decided to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P. Chidambaram before taking a final decision on allowing foreign players to bid for 3G spectrum.

“A meeting has been scheduled with the Prime Minister and the finance minister to discuss whether foreign players should be allowed to bid for 3G spectrum along with domestic telecom operators,” Raja said.

TDSAT hitch

The Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) wants the department of telecom (DoT) to stop the allocation of spectrum to new players till the final hearing of a petition filed by Spice Communications seeking a pan-India licence.

The tribunal has decided to hold the final hearing in July.

B.K. Modi-promoted Spice Communications has challenged DoT’s decision to reject its application for a pan-India GSM licence.

However, the DoT officials said it would be legally impossible to refuse spectrum to new telecom licence holders.