Tech Telecom

According to official data released by Department of Telecommunications, seven telecom service providers have qualified to bid for the biggest-ever auction starting from Oct. 1. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Aircel and Tata Teleservices have qualified for the upcoming auction.

Reliance Jio can bid in any licensed service area (LSA) across the country, while Reliance Communications can bid across the country except northeast and Assam. An Earnest Money Deposit of Rs. 6,500 crore has been deposited by Reliance Jio and has got the highest eligibility point allocated of 44,506.

The total amount of spectrum- 2,354.55 MHz will be offered for sale. Overall, based on the reserve price, the mop up is expected to be Rs 5.66 lakh crore.

The 2,300-plus MHz of airwaves on the block for telecom operators is in seven bands — 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz and 2,500 MHz — as against 470.75 MHz in the previous round, which is set to fetch the exchequer $17 billion during its tenure.

The government has decided to allot the right to the spectrum won through auction for 20 years. The operators will have the choice of both upfront and instalments payment options. The service providers who win airwaves below 1 GHz bandwidth will have to pay 25 percent upfront and for those winning above that the upfront payment will be 50 percent.

The spectrum won will be assigned within 30 days from the date of upfront payment as per new bidding-friendly measure by the government. Interest on deferred payment, linked to base rate, will be 9.3 percent this year against 10 percent in 2015.

For the successful bidder, the lock-in period of equity in the company has been reduced to one year instead of the earlier stipulation of a minimum period of three years or completion of rollout obligation, whichever is later.