It was recently reported that the Wireless planning Commission (WPC) has cleared the allotment of blocks of spectrum for state-owned telecom operators, MTNL and BSNL -- which gives them the capacity to start offering 3G services by year end, ahead of private operators; which is great!

However, now a recent report by IANS suggests that BSNL will only launch its 3G services in June 2009. So if you thought you could start browsing the Internet over your 3G-device of choice, like the much-awaited iPhone 3G (unlocked, of course), you'd have to hang around for another year.With BSNL's 3G offering looking like a June 2009 launch, that leaves MTNL as a possible saviour to all those awaiting 3G anytime soon. Unfortunately there's no news from MTNL on the same. Right now, we can't be certain if MTNL launches in the next few months, or is delayed until next year as well. Even though the government has cleared the route for the two PSUs to start offering 3G services, we were unable to confirm with our sources just how prepared MTNL is (read: how soon) to offer 3G services.

So the worst-case scenario for potential iPhone 3G owners: if you unlock your device when it launches August 22nd, you will be able to use 3G come June 2009. Hopefully, MTNL will launch its 3G service later this year, or better yet -- the process for spectrum bidding and allocation will be done within this year, allowing even private operators to launch their 3G services late this year, or early next.