Vodafone finds govt stance on spectrum sale coercive

Reuters

The telecom secretary had recently said that the government will auction the spectrum being held by incumbent GSM operators in 900 MHz band whose licences are coming up for renewal in November 2014.

They will, however, be allowed to hold 2.5 Mhz in each circle in the same band even after expiry of their licences after paying a market-determined price.

Vodafone is one of the companies whose licences in Delhi , Mumbai and Kolkata are due for renewal in 2014.

“Most importantly, they, in effect, are coercing participating in the auction particularly in our case since three of our unified access licences are due for extension in November 2014,” he added.

Ramachandran said that any decision that licences can be assured of spectrum only if they participate in the auctions is completely untenable both under policy and licence.

The Union Cabinet on 13 December approved a 30 percent reduction in reserve price for spectrum in 1800 MHz band for 4 service areas

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