EW DELHI: Telecom Commission has decided to allow wireless broadband airwave holders to provide voice services by paying a fee of Rs 1658 crore ($306 million), Telecom Secretary R. Chandrashekhar said on Monday. The decision may help Reliance Industries, which owns pan-India airwaves to provide broadband services, launch voice services. Two-and-a-half years after Reliance IndustriesBSE 0.33 % made a dramatic re-entry into telecom, it is yet to finalise a concrete plan of action to launch its much-hyped 4G technology services, according to sources from the company, industry and the vendor community. In June 2010, when RILBSE 0.33 % bought InfotelBSE -2.78 % Broadband Services for Rs 4,800 crore, a day after the company emerged as the only firm to win national broadband spectrum, it sparked off a furore in telecom circles.

Since then, rivals have been on tenterhooks awaiting a big-bang launch and aggressive pricing from RIL; vendors have been on their toes anxious to win the big equipment contracts they bid for and employees have been on the edge, keen to get the project on the roads.