The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the government to go ahead with the auction starting on March 4. Eight private telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, RCom, Reliance Jio, Tata Docomo, Aircel and Uninor have submitted applications to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction. But the court also order that the auction results can be declared only with the court's approval has left many uncertain as well.
However, Aircel and Tata Teleservices won't be able to bid for spectrum in the 2100 MHz, 1800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz frequencies because two telcos that have declared a negative net worth, which require net worth of at least Rs 100 crore to make it eligible for spectrum auction.
The order also said that no winner can claim any "equity" just because it won a bid and the next hearing is on March 26.
The spectrum auction will take place between 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, including public holiday – Holi on March 6, 2015.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has submitted the highest EMD of about Rs. 4,500 crores, followed by Bharti Airtel with Rs. 4,336 crores, Idea Cellular with Rs. 4,000 crores, Vodafone with Rs. 3,700 crores, Tata Teleservices with Rs. 1,500 crores, Reliance Communications with Rs. 1,175 crores, Telewings (Uninor) with Rs. 724.95 crores and Aircel with Rs. 500 crores.
The government expects to mop up Rs 75,000 – Rs 100,000 crore from the auction.
Seven licenses each of Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications, four licenses of Bharti Airtel and six licenses of Vodafone will complete their 20-year term in December 2015, after which they have to be renewed. |