Migration option scrapped for incumbent telecom operators; EGoM meets under Pawar today.
The Cabinet on Thursday approved a 30 per cent cut in the reserve price for sale of mobile phone spectrum in four zones that went unsold in the recent damp-squib auction.
After poor response to last month's 2G spectrum sale, a ministerial panel on telecom on Friday decided to lower the base price by 30 per cent for radiowaves in 1800 Mhz band in four circles, which attracted no bidders, for fresh auction this fiscal.
Falls way short of the Rs 40,000-cr target for the year Bharti makes upfront payment Vodafone, Telewings go for deferred scheme
Small cells improve coverage in areas where traffic is high.
Winners of recently held 2G spectrum auction will have to make payment, either in full or at least 33 per cent of the due amount, by December 1, the Department of Telecom said on Thursday.
It had also led to delays in allocating even start-up spectrum.
Deconstructing the numbers shows companies have bid smartly to get the best deals.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is working on various alternatives to overcome the hurdles arising out of a lacklustre auction of 1,800-MHz telecom spectrum.
A large migrant population, better law and order situation made the state attractive.
Global credit rating agency Fitch upgraded outlook for the Indian telecom sector from 'negative' to 'stable'.
Next week, the government is auctioning spectrum at a minimum bid price of Rs 14,000 crore for 5 MHz of airwaves for all the country's 22 telecom zones.
Bharti Airtel, HDFC, ONGC, ITC and CIL emerged as the top gainers.
Govt to bear Rs 12k-cr cost of spectrum retention but without any cash outgo put up for Cabinet nod.
While it gives clarity on one regulatory issue, the financial burden increases for the sector.
Videocon starts race, says will bid in eight circles, expects 5-MHz spectrum to go for Rs 20,000 crore
The Telecom Commission (TC) on Saturday put the onus of deciding the contentious issue of the base price for auction of 1,800 MHz of 2G band spectrum on the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
PMO to have direct say in decision-making through MoS Narayanasamy.
The Cabinet on Friday fixed a minimum or base price of Rs 14,000 crore for the Supreme Court mandated auction of telecom spectrum.
Regulator puts price at average of 1.65 times 3G cost; Sibal's approval needed for rollout.
The telecom regulator had suggested imposition of a price on operators for holding spectrum beyond the contracted limit of 6.2MHz.
The Department of Telecom may bar operators holding 3G airwaves from sharing the high-speed spectrum.
Despite getting lukewarm response from the earlier two auctions, the government on Monday said it is confident of meeting the revenue target of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) from spectrum sale this fiscal.
The second largest telecom operator said auction would avoid possible legal disputes and pave the way for licence extensions.
Even as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is being criticised for the steep reserve price it has set for 2G spectrum auctions in the 1,800 MHz band, the government may be able to garner only Rs 18,000-20,000 crore (Rs 180-200 billion) in 2012-13, just about half the target of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion).
There are different prices for spectrum up to contracted limit of 6.2 Mhz and for additional airwaves.
The Department of Telecom has worked out a one-time spectrum charge of over Rs 2,060 crore to be levied from operators for the period they remained in business after their licences were cancelled in February last year, sources said.
Jio is targeting to differentiate its services via superior data and an associated ecosystem of content.
The department of telecommunications has proposed doing away with the system of auctioning spectrum.
According to senior officials in the department of telecommunication 20 Mhz of spectrum has been given to the four firms -- Infotel, Bharti, Aircel and Tikona Digital, which have licences to offer services.
The decision to annul the deal was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the basis of a recommendation from the Space Commission.
Market breadth was weak with 1239 losers and 1078 gainers on the BSE.
Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications have said that they had been denied extra spectrum even as the old GSM operators like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea were been allocated excess spectrum in many circles.
The department of space and the department of telecommunication are at loggerheads over the use of 2.5 MHz spectrum band for commercial operations, which DoS claims will interfere with sensitive satellite communications.
Hyperactive Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal -- busy trying to 'rescue' the UPA government in the 2G scam ever since he took over after Andimuthu Raja resigned in November -- finds himself caught up in another spectrum scam of the Indian Space Research Organisation's gift of 70Mhz at throwaway prices to its former officer in 2005 that is now turning out to be a Rs 2-lakh crore (Rs 2 trillion) scandal.
Leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has urged the government not to change existing spectrum allocation criteria and to continue with the additional 2G spectrum allocation policy based on subscriber figures.
The trio has been voicing their criticism of Trai's recommendations and have asked the government to dump the report, which according to them are 'retrograde' and 'absurd'.
Virtually endorsing the Union telecom ministry's decision not to auction 2G spectrum two years ago, telecom regulator Trai on Tuesday said bidding out mobile spectrum would not have yielded major economic gains for the exchequer.
The much-awaited auction for 3G spectrum has begun. Top telecom operators including Bharti, Vodafone, Idea, RCom and Tatas are in the fray.
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