Government reschedules dates for spectrum auction; CDMA sale on March 11 - NDTV

NDTV | Updated On: February 26, 2013 21:15 (IST) The dates for the fresh round of 2G spectrum auction, to be held in March, have been rescheduled. While the auction of the airwaves in the 800 MHz band, popularly known as CDMA, has been preponed to March 11, the auction of 1800 and 900 MHz bands (used for GSM) has been postponed, the Department of Telecom (DoT) said in a release today. The reason, DoT said, is that no one has bid for these bands. Here are 10 facts on the fresh round of 2G (second generation) auction: The auction for 1800 and 900 MHz bands (GSM) was to be held on March 11, and that for 800 MHz band (CDMA) was to commence two days after the conclusion of the first batch. Now, CDMA auction will take place on March 11, and dates for GSM auction will be announced later. DoT will place the issue of GSM auction before an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM). "The quantum of spectrum, the reserve price and the timelines for this auction will be decided after necessary directions are obtained from the EGoM and where required, the Cabinet, in this regard," DoT said in a release. The government will need to further cut the minimum bid price for the 1800 megahertz frequency in the Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan zones besides the 30 per cent cut it approved in December to revive interest in the zones that found no takers in November, analysts said. Selling airwaves, along with sales of stakes in state-run companies, is a crucial part of the government's plans to rein in fiscal deficit. The airwave auction in November raised less than a quarter of the Rs 30,000 crore target set in the last Budget. An economist said it would be tough for the government to meet its target to contain the fiscal deficit at under 5.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for the year ending in March, with no bidder for the bulk of the airwave auction. "This is a big disappointment for the (money) market," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at state-run Bank of Baroda. On Monday, the last date for making a bid, only one telecom company - Sistema Shyam Teleservices (STSL) - submitted its application to bid for CDMA spectrum in the auction, a sign that the government may have to drop the reserve price of remaining airwaves to attract interest. The government is still to take a call on that.  Last week, SSTL had announced closing down operations in 10 circles - Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Punjab - and had asked customers to switch to other telecom operators of their choice. The company's 21 of a total of 22 licences were among the l22 permits cancelled by the Supreme Court on February 2, 2012, in the 2G spectrum allocation case. As per the order, all the telcos will be able to continue operations only in those circles where they secure spectrum in the fresh auction. A fresh auction of the CDMA and GSM airwaves is being held after the first auction on November 12 and November 14 drew muted response from telcos, mainly due to high reserve prices, with the government managing to garner bids worth Rs. 9,407 crore, way below its estimates of Rs. 30,000 crore. GSM spectrum in key circles such as Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka had found no bidders, while the CDMA spectrum was not auctioned at all after the two interested parties - Tata Teleservices and Videocon - withdrew from the auction. The telecom department will also be filing an affidavit of compliance in the Supreme Court regarding implementation of its February order. The Supreme Court had ruled that unsuccessful bidders and telecom companies, which opted out of participating in the first round of fresh auction for the 2G spectrum following cancellation of their licences by last year's order, would not be allowed to continue their service. "Any further directions issued by the SC in the matter will be incorporated into the plan of action for the next round of auction to be held as soon as possible after the March 11, 2013, auction is completed," DoT said. The telecom department also said that it will take action as directed by the Delhi High Court to dispose of the applications for the extension of licences of companies whose licences are due to expire in November 2014. "This action will be completed before the timeline fixed by the Delhi HC, that is March 7, 2013," DoT said. For Profit Update, via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEkKtCmPAvkEFtfkehgXPhxwFUm6A&url=http://profit.ndtv.com/news/cheat-sheet/article-government-reschedules-dates-for-spectrum-auction-cdma-sale-on-march-11-318597

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