NEW DELHI: A little known telecom aspirant, Swan, has been awarded start-up GSM spectrum in the coveted Delhi circle that had room for only one extra player.

Swan will now join the league of leading GSM telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Idea, and MTNL.

Promoted by Dynamix Balwa Group of companies with interest in hospitality and real estate, Swan Telecom beat other aspirants including Datacom, Unitech, Loop Telecom and Tata Teleservices. Reliance Communications has already been allotted GSM spectrum under the dual technology clause.

Separately, four of the above mentioned new players have been allotted start-up GSM spectrum of 4.4 MHz in the circle of Madhya Pradesh, official sources said, adding that the government was looking at some more circles, including Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Swan Telecom was in the news for its reported association with Anil Ambani group company RCOM, which was said to hold 9.9 per cent stake in it at the time of applying for licence last year.

RCOM officials, however, said the company does not hold stake in Swan telecom anymore.

With clearance for spectrum in Madhya Pradesh and partly in Delhi, the competition in GSM mobile telephony is bound to increase, as Communication and IT Minister A Raja has already distributed radio frequency in five circles of Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Orrisa.