Tata Tele the country’s sixth-biggest mobile phone carrier by customers pulled out after smaller rival Videocon Telecommunications dropped its interest earlier in the CDMA-based (Code Division Multiple Access) mobile phone services.
The telecom ministry had planned to hold two separate auctions for airwaves used by GSM and CDMA-based mobile phone carriers, hoping to reap a combined Rs 40,000-crore to plug a high fiscal deficit.
A high auction starting price has deterred bidders, according to analysts. The auction for GSM airwaves is scheduled to start from November 12 and was to be followed by the CDMA airwaves auction. The auctions were organised after the Supreme Court ordered all cellular permits to be revoked after a flawed state sale in 2008.
Tata Tele is set to lose its operating permits in three of India’s 22 telecoms zones and was looking to buy back airwaves in those zones.
Videocon Telecommunications had applied to bid for both GSM and CDMA airwaves. The company remains in the race for GSM airwaves after withdrawing from CDMA airwave bidding.
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