Spectrum auction begins; govt eyes over Rs 80,000-cr revenue

Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 4

The much-awaited biggest ever auction of spectrum by the DoT started today for airwaves in the 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands with eight companies in the fray.

The government expects to garner Rs 80,000-1 lakh crore from the sale of spectrum. The eight telecom service providers participating are Reliance Communications, Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices, Uninor, Idea Cellular and Aircel.

These eight companies have submitted an earnest money of Rs 20,435 crore. The auction will take place between 9 am to 7.30 pm from Monday to Saturday except on Holi, which is a holiday.

The objectives of the auction is to obtain a market determined price of spectrum in the bands through a transparent process, ensure efficient use of spectrum and avoid hoarding, stimulate competition in the sector, promote rollout of the respective services and maximise revenue proceeds from the auctions within the set parameters.

The Finance Ministry is expected to closely watch the e-auction of radio frequency spectrum for telecom operators as it is crucial for the government to be able to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of the GDP.

The total spectrum put to auction is 103.75 MHz in 800 MHz band, 177.8 MHz in 900 MHz band and 99.2 MHz in 1,800 MHz band — a total of 380.75 MHz in 800, 900 and 1,800 MHz.

The government will also put on sale 5 MHz in the 2,100 MHz band, which is used for 3G services in 17 out of 22 telecom areas.

The reserve price approved is Rs 3,646 crore pan-India per MHz in 800 MHz, Rs 3,980 crore for 900 MHz band pan-India, and Rs 2,191 crore (pan-India) in 1,800 MHz band.

In December 2015, seven licences each of Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications, four of Airtel and six of Vodafone will complete their 20-year term after which they have to be renewed. In total, there are 29 licences in 18 service areas which will expire in 2015-16.