Indian telecom service providers – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, etc. are gearing up to pay huge money during the next round of spectrum auction as the Telecom Commission has approved higher base price than suggested by TRAI.
However, final price of spectrum will depend on Cabinet approval.
The pan-India reserve price for the 900MHz band will be Rs 3,693 crore per (MHz) against Rs 3,004 crore recommended by TRAI, the 1,800MHz band will cost Rs 2,191 crore against TRAI’s Rs 2,138 crore, while price of CDMA band of 800 MHz will be Rs 3,646 crore against TRAI’s Rs 3,104 crore.
Pan-India reserve price
Rs 3,693 crore for 900MHz band per MHz
Rs 2,191 crore for 1,800MHz band
Rs 3,646 crore for CDMA band of 800 MHz
The inter-ministerial Telecom Commission, chaired by telecom secretary Rakesh Garg, has accepted the suggestion of an internal committee of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which had proposed a higher price to that finalized by TRAI in its recommendations made on October 15, Times of India reported.
The India government will conduct spectrum auctions for licenses in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands which will expire in December 2015 and early 2016. The telecom department will sell 184 MHz spectrum in the 900MHz band after expiry of licenses), while around 104 MHz will be available for auction in the 1800 MHz band. This includes 78 MHz that was unsold in the last auction.
The BJP government will conduct auction in 11 service areas for the 800MHz band.
The telecom commission did not take any decision on TRAI recommendation to take back spectrum from the state-run telecom operator BSNL in the 900 MHz band. The industry is expecting that the BSNL issue will be re-considered at its next meeting.
Telecom commission also agreed with TRAI’s recommendation that auction in the 1,800 MHz band in Maharashtra and West Bengal telecom circles should not be conducted as only partial spectrum is available in a few districts.
This apart, the commission also accepted the recommendation of TRAI as well as the DoT committee for a discount of 30 percent on reserve price in 1,800 MHz spectrum band in Rajasthan service area and a discount of 50 percent in the north-east service area in 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands.
