The Indian government has had to postpone spectrum auctions for certain bandwidths after a complete dearth of applications by the deadline.
As TelecomFinance reported yesterday, Russian conglomerate Sistema’s Indian telecom subsidiary was the only…
The Indian government has had to postpone spectrum auctions for certain bandwidths after a complete dearth of applications by the deadline.
As TelecomFinance reported yesterday, Russian conglomerate Sistema’s Indian telecom subsidiary was the only applicant for the CDMA (800MHz) band, while there were no applicants for GSM (1800MHz and 900MHz) frequencies.
The 800MHz bandwidth will still be sold off, but Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar told the Economic Times that the auction will be postponed for the GSM bands.
“In all probability, the matter will have to go to the Empowered Group of Ministers before a final view can be taken to work out a way and to go forward,” he said in the report.
A telecoms analyst at an Indian brokerage told TelecomFinance today that he expected the government to announce a new auction date and strategy, likely to include a lowered reserve price, in two weeks’ time.
A number of analysts have agreed that it is the reserve price which is deterring operators and will have to be changed. “The CDMA auction last November set a precedent, as there was a lack of bidders and the government brought down the reserve price,” said one. “There is an expectation that the same thing will happen now.”
It is thought that a lowered reserve price would be good for Indian incumbents such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, as it would lower their future cash outgoings and boost their share price as a result.
Chandrasekhar was unavailable for comment.
