The government will hear the competing claims of telecom operators to ensure that the upcoming auction of spectrum generates enough money.
Two meetings next week are expected to set the tone for the auctions from which Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech hoped to garner Rs. 40,000 crore.
The Telecom Commission will meet late next week to take a view on spectrum auctions and before that Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg will meet company representatives to understand their concerns.
Frequency allocationThe Communications Ministry has sought to address at least one of their grievances by finally allocating frequencies that had been won by the companies eight months back. The delay compelled Vodafone to caution the government against further delaying the physical handing over of spectrum. Other companies that received their allocation following the Vodafone threat included Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Jio and Uninor.
Though this issue was sorted out, chiefs of five telecom companies jointly wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad seeking deferment of the auctions.
The letter also said that in view of the frequency shortage, the government could auction the 900 MHz spectrum with Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam. They were backed by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
On the other hand, the Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) alleged that the well-established players were trying to change the norms in their favour. “Most of the 900 MHz spectrum is held by three private operators for almost a decade without making any additional payment and hence they are likely to complain bitterly about this decision,’’ it said in a statement.
The government’s calculation is to earn at least Rs. 40,000 crore from the auctions which analysts believe is achievable. But a more conducive climate could boost revenue by another Rs. 15,000 crore.
