Minister for IT and telecommunications A. Raja has turned down DoT's proposal to distribute frequency in spectrum-surplus areas to operators such as Vodafone Essar, Idea and Aircel. According to Raja, the spectrum should be allocated only after the new spectrum policy has been announced. DoT had earlier proposed to distribute the excess spectrum available in the Northeast, Assam, Orissa and Jammu & Kashmir circles. There is surplus spectrum in these circles due to relatively lower subscriber numbers.