The government halved the reserve price for CDMA spectrum in a bid to get telecom operators such as Sistema Shyam and Tata Teleservices that had skipped the last round of auctions to participate in the fresh sale of airwaves scheduled for next month.
The decision to cut the base price for pan-India spectrum in the 800-mega Hertz (MHz) frequency band to Rs 9,100 crore was endorsed by the Union Cabinet after a recommendation by the empowered group of ministers. The government, which had failed to attract any bidders at the Rs 18,200 crore base or start price at the previous auction in November will sell airwaves in the 800MHz band before March-end, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said.
Sistema’s local unit Sistema Shyam, which is set to lose licence in all but one of its 22 telecom zones, was among the carriers that did not participate in November auction, saying price was too high. After the Cabinet decision, the company lauded the move, while demanding a steeper cut.
Auspi, the lobby group representing CDMA operators, suggested the reduction should have been of the order of 75%.
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