This was specified under Clause 20 of the 1994 licence (Document 1) agreement for the metros. One year later, under Clause 20 of the 1995 licensee agreement (20.3) the cumulative maximum was specified as 4.4 Mhz under bands 890-902.5 and 935-947.5 MHz.
The term ‘cumulative maximum’ does not leave itself open to different interpretations. It means the maximum that can be permitted, taking everything into consideration. Yet what was eventually offered was between 8.4 Mhz and 8.8 Mhz to the winning bidders.
The fact remains that those who signed the licence agreement, signed for a cumulative maximum of 4.4 Mhz. However, there was a subsequent clarificatory question in the “Tender Documents for Provision of Telephone Service No. 314-7/94-PHC” under the head: “Replies to queries received in terms of Clause 4 of section II, Part I” (not clause 20 under which the cumulative maximum was specified). The replies dealt with the calculation of licence fee using the words “for a cumulative total of 4.4 Mhz + 4.4 Mhz assigned to an operator for GSM standard mobile cellular system…” The calculations are as shown in Document 2 below.
