The new government The government is gearing up for another round of spectrum auction.
The department of Telecom (DoT) will soon seek recommendations of telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) on reserve price of airwaves in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands.
DoT will ask the regulator to give recommendation for the circles where licences of companies like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communication (RCOM) and Idea Cellular are coming for renewal in 2015-16, said a senior DoT official.
According to licensing rules, the DoT must auction spectrum at least 18 months before licenses come up for renewal. A total of 29 licenses in 900MHz spectrum band and 15 licences in 1800MHz spectrum band across the country will be due for renewal in 2015-2016.
Telecom companies whose licenses are coming up for renewal hold 182.4MHz of spectrum in 900MHz band and 27.8Mhz of spectrum in 1800MHz band.
Earlier TRAI had given its recommendations on 900 MHz spectrum price in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata Circle. However, TRAI in its earlier recommendations had not given 900 MHz spectrum price in remaining circles and said TRAI would consider it at later stage.
In recently held auction of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum band in February telecom companies had paid more that Rs 61,000 crores for spectrum to the government.
Another round of spectrum auction at this stage may force telecom companies to shell out more money, which may adversely impact their balance sheets. |