Eight operators look set to take part in India’s upcoming 2- and 3G spectrum auction, from which the government aims to net at least Rs648.4bn (US$10.2bn).
The country’s four largest mobile players – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular…
Eight operators look set to take part in India’s upcoming 2- and 3G spectrum auction, from which the government aims to net at least Rs648.4bn (US$10.2bn).
The country’s four largest mobile players – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications (RCom) – all filed applications to participate by the deadline yesterday, according to multiple reports citing people involved in the process. They were reportedly joined by smaller rivals Tata Teleservices, Uninor, Aircel and Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Notable absentee MTS India, controlled by Russian conglomerate Sistema, recently said it would not take part as it believes the reserve price for 800 MHz spectrum is too high. The operator has also sought arbitration to get the Department of Telecommunications to rearrange frequencies it acquired in the March 2013 auction.
Struggling state-controlled telcos BSNL and MTNL had already revealed they would not take part.
A final list of bidders is set to be published on 27 February, while the auction itself is scheduled to kick off on 4 March.
The limited amount of spectrum on offer and high reserve prices have attracted widespread criticism from industry players, including the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and international mobile operators association GSMA.
