The Hindu : Business : Bharti offers Rs. 2,650 cr. for spectrum

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Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007
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Bharti offers Rs. 2,650 cr. for spectrum

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The spectrum allocation war gained new momentum on Monday when Bharti Airtel, already under tremendous pressure from rival CDMA operators and the Government, offered Rs. 2,650 crore for all-India frequency as an initial bid with the rider that it could be increased further.

Right to raise bid

In a letter to the Telecommunication Department Secretary, D. S. Mathur, Bharti Airtel’s Joint Managing Director, Akhil Gupta said this is a confirmed offer and the company reserves the right to increase this bid in the event of an auction for such pan-India spectrum. “It seems that a satisfactory outcome of the process under way seems unlikely and the issue is headed for a possible long litigation. The decision to allocate GSM spectrum to CDMA operators seems to be the additional amount that is being charged. We are left with no option but to follow the same practice, albeit at a more realistic amount than what has been now proposed,” Mr. Gupta stated in his communication.

The offer of Rs. 2,650 crore takes into account that Bharti Airtel would be given no worse off terms and conditions that are being proposed for dual allocation to CDMA operators in license fee and other matters, he said.

“We await the issuance of letter from the Telecommunication Department to immediately make the payment and seek this additional spectrum allocation,” Mr. Gupta stated.

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