India's telecom sector has been through dizzying peaks, troughs, policy U-turns, court battles, brutal competition, and daily controversies. India could go back to a private sector duopoly with just Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel surviving the mayhem. The third player, Vodafone Idea, could be history.
Bharti Airtel called the prices exorbitant while Vodafone Idea wants the auctions take place in 2020. The auctions need to happen when the infrastructure is ready for the roll out, be it in terms of fiberisation levels, or optimisation of equipment and software etc. Spending a hefty amount on a technology (airwaves) that at present offers limited returns is not going to be a priority for the incumbent telcos.
India's largest-ever spectrum auction kicked off on Saturday with major telecom operators placing bids worth Rs 53,531 crore across bands, even as the premium 700 Mhz and 900 Mhz frequencies did not find any buyer.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said nine structural reforms for the telecom sector were approved. The definition of AGR, which had been a major reason for the stress in the sector, has been rationalised by excluding non-telecom revenue of telecom companies.
Markets will be closed on Thursday and Friday on account of Holi and Good Friday, respectively.
The amount generated so far is about 86 per cent of what the 3G auction fetched in 2010.
The move comes against the backdrop of the US and some of its allies banning the purchase of Chinese telecom gear over security concerns and pressuring other countries to follow suit.
The entry of the deep-pocketed conglomerate is expected to heighten competition.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 1 point at 27,459 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 1 point at 8,341.
Prasad also said India will be a $1 trillion opportunity for digital companies in five years
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio Infocomm and five other telecom firms will battle it out at the spectrum auction tomorrow, from which the government expects to garner at least Rs 11,300 crore (Rs 113 billion).
Govt is set to garner Rs 1 lakh crore from sale of radiowaves.
Midcap stocks continued to remain on buyers' radar with BSE Midcap index up 0.1%.
The Indian Navy has expressed reservations in vacating 100 Mhz of the spectrum, proposed to be sold in the tender expected next year, sources said. This could delay the Centre's plans to proceed with the 5G auctions in 2022. A department of telecom (DoT) official said, "The Indian Navy is showing reluctance in vacating the spectrum from the 3.3 GHz-3.4 GHz band that it is using. "Unless there is some traction with them on this issue, we can't seek consultation from TRAI." The 3300 MHz-3600 MHz (or 3.3GHz-3.6GHz) will be auctioned for the first time in the proposed 5G auctions, likely next year.
Textile and telecom shares have gained ahead of the Cabinet meet later today which is likely to announce new measures for both the sectors.
Both the indices ended at their highest levels since February 1.
Most of the session's gains for both the indices were wiped out as investors rushed to book profits ahead of F&O expiry on Thursday and also due to concerns over stretched valuations.
A rare bonhomie among three private telecom companies in raising tariffs coming on the back of a bailout package by the government may have helped the telecom sector avert a crisis but the challenges haven't ceased to exist as the industry faces a cash-guzzling task of rolling out 5G networks in the coming months. The sector that provides direct and indirect employment to millions is projected to see Rs 1.3 lakh crore to Rs 2.3 lakh crore of investments in the coming years in creating robust infrastructure and building telecom and network products that have been incentivised by the government through PLI and other initiatives. After years of cut-throat competition and the apex court ruling on payment of past statutory dues left some players in the lurch, billionaire Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel and struggling Vodafone Idea almost in tandem raised tariffs, taking the plunge they had long been talking about.
This measure will ensure that the price of a scrip cannot move upward or downward beyond a limit set for the day.
BSE Bankex and Telecom indices led the fall.
A liberalised spectrum allows operators to use any technology to deliver services like 3G and 4G.
At the moment, data and broadband is small for BSNL: it contributes 10 per cent of the company's revenue, though its share is on the rise.
Uninor added 8.53 lakh subscribers to take its base to 4.01 crore during the reported period.
In the Sensex kitty, ITC turned star performer by surging 2.45 per cent, followed by NTPC rising 2.19 per cent.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 414 points at 25,481 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 119 points at 7,603.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 8 points at 27,508 and the 50-share Nifty closed 1 point higher at 8,284.
Indices reversed all its losses during late trades.
Sources say companies will have to keep the market share of merged entities below 50% in all circles
The freebies are now over, but Jio will need to notch up subscriber numbers and margins to prove its sceptics wrong.
Investors engaged in profit booking in the recent gainers at attractive and higher valuations.
Telecom shares rallied on hopes that they would hike tariffs after huge investments to acquire spectrum.
Telecom companies that bought spectrum in the 2G auction of November last year would lose around Rs 4,000 crore
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 57 points to end at 26,064 and the Nifty50 climbed 17 points.
Rise in crude oil price and rally in global equities aided the sentiment
Telecom stocks fell after Mukesh Ambani extended Reliance Jio's free offers till March 2017.
With inflation down, the government's twin deficits are largely under control.
In first half of year, firms raise more than banks on low US treasury rates.
The Union Cabinet has approved the modalities for holding 5G spectrum auctions, and 72097.85 MHz of radio waves will be put on the block by July-end, an official release said on Wednesday.
Payments banks will mainly deal in remittance services and accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh.
Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.36 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank up 1.39 per cent.
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