With the telcos showing no interest in bidding for 1,800-MHz spectrum for the Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan telecom circles, the shares of major telcos Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and RCom rose in anticipation of the cut in the reserve price.

Despite a 30 percent cut the government announced in the wake of the response and the reservations the telcos expressed in November when the first round of auction took place, this time too the response remained tepid. 

On Tuesday Airtel touched an intra-day high of R334.55 before ending at R311.30, a rise of 1.38% from Monday. Idea Cellular surged over 4.43% to an early high of R118.85 before ending Tuesday at R118, up 3.69%, on BSE.

In 800-MHz (CDMA) spectrum, Sistema (MTS) emerged the lone bidder who applied for 3.75 MHz of spectrum in 11 telecom circles, after the base price for the band was reduced 50 per cent.

According to Motilal Oswal Research, the lack of bidders for 900/1,800 MHz spectrum at current reserve price would eventually lead to further lowering of reserve price for the spectrum. It further adds, “as more spectrums in 18 circles are expected to come up for auction as per a recent Supreme Court order which is also unlikely to garner response at current pricing.”
 
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