CDMA spectrum bid price halved to Rs 9,100 crore

The Cabinet on 17 January approved a 50 per cent cut in the auction reserve price for CDMA spectrum. The decision could prompt Russia's Sistema to participate in the auction process schedule for March.

Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) that offers mobile and data services under the MTS brand said that the government's move was 'in the right direction' as it had realised the limited demand for the technology.

"However, as per ground realities one would have expected much greater reduction," a spokesperson from the telco added. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reduced the reserve price of five units of CDMA airwaves (5 MHz) to. 9,100 crore from. 18, 200 crore, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said.

This is about one-fourth of the Rs 36,000 crore base price that had been initially suggested by telecom regulator Trai. Sibal added that auctions for both CDMA and GSM frequencies will be completed by March 31 and added that market forces would decide the revenue that the government generates.

The government was forced to half the reserve price since no mobile phone company had opted to bid for CDMA airwaves in the earlier round of auctions held in November 2012 duetothe high reserve price.

Earlier this month, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on spectrum, headed by finance minister P Chidambaram, has asked the Cabinet to take a final call on a 30-50 % reduction in the base price for airwaves in the 800 MHz band.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/broadband-and-iptv-news/item/173-cdma-spectrum-bid-price-halved-to-rs-9100-crore.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/broadband-and-iptv-news/item/173-cdma-spectrum-bid-price-halved-to-rs-9100-crore.html