Reduction in the reserve price of CDMA spectrum may help companies like Sistema of Russia to bid in the auction and make up for the ones they lost when the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences in February last year
New Delhi: The government of India on Thursday approved a 50% reduction in the reserve price of spectrum used by Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile operators, reports PTI.
“The Cabinet has approved 50% reduction in CDMA spectrum (reserve) price which was fixed earlier at Rs18,200 crore (pan India 5MHz),” telecom minister Kapil Sibal said.
All the spectrum auction, Global System for Mobile (GSM) and CDMA, will be completed by 31st March and markets will decide how much revenue the government will get, he added.
After 50% reduction, pan-India 5MHz of 800 MHz spectrum (CDMA radio-waves) will now cost Rs9,100 crore.
The Cabinet, headed by prime minister Manmohan Singh, considered the recommendation of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) which suggested a 50% cut in the reserve price of 800 MHz band.
The November auction of CDMA spectrum did not attract bidders due to high reserve price. The reserve price set was 11 times higher than what operators paid in 2008.
The government had earlier fixed CDMA spectrum price at 1.3 times more than the GSM spectrum in 1800 Mhz band.
The Cabinet has already approved a 30% cut in the reserve price of 1,800 MHz band spectrum used for offering GSM services.
Reduction in reserve price of CDMA spectrum may help companies like Sistema of Russia to bid in the auction and make up for the ones they lost when the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences in February last year.
The apex court has recently allowed the companies whose licences were cancelled to continue operations till 4th February when the government is supposed to inform it of the final reserve or minimum price for the spectrum sale.
Inside story of the National Stock Exchange’s amazing success, leading to hubris, regulatory capture and algo scam
Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
1-year online access to the magazine articles published during the subscription period.
Access is given for all articles published during the week (starting Monday) your subscription starts. For example, if you subscribe on Wednesday, you will have access to articles uploaded from Monday of that week.
This means access to other articles (outside the subscription period) are not included.
Articles outside the subscription period can be bought separately for a small price per article.
Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
30-day online access to the magazine articles published during the subscription period.
Access is given for all articles published during the week (starting Monday) your subscription starts. For example, if you subscribe on Wednesday, you will have access to articles uploaded from Monday of that week.
This means access to other articles (outside the subscription period) are not included.
Articles outside the subscription period can be bought separately for a small price per article.
Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
Complete access to Moneylife archives since inception ( till the date of your subscription )
