Next spectrum auction may fetch Rs 31,500 crore at reserve price

[1]

New Delhi: The government may garner Rs 31,534 crore from the next round of spectrum auction if all the radiowaves put up for sale are sold at the price recommended by telecom regulator TRAI.
However, it may get only Rs 15,000 crore of the total amount in this fiscal if the previous rule of part payment option continues, says telecom consulting firm Telanalysis.
"Government may earn around Rs 15,000 crore through spectrum if auction happens in FY 2013-14 and provided operators pay 33 per cent upfront payment as decided in the last spectrum auction," Telecom expert and Telanalysis Editor Praveen Prashant told PTI.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended putting 285 megahertz of spectrum, freed from the cancellation of 122 licences by the Supreme Court last year in the 2G specturm allocation case, at 37 per cent lower price compared to last reserve price fixed by government.
At new pan-India price recommended by the regulator, government can get Rs 21,334 crore from auction of airwaves in 1800 Mhz band, and Rs 10,200 crore from sale of all 46 Mhz of airwaves to be available in 900 Mhz band in view of expiry of licences of Airtel, Vodafone and Loop in second half of 2014.
Going by the guidelines issued by Department of Telecom for last auction, the 900 Mhz auction can fetch Rs 9,500 crore from auction of 42.5 Mhz of spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, he said.
"If all spectrum getting released from expiry of licences in 2014 is put for auction then government may get bids worth Rs 31,534 crore. If DoT continues to go ahead with 42.5 Mhz auction in 900 Mhz, then auctions may fetch Rs 31,040 crore," Prashant said.
Next: TRAI's reduced spectrum prices will lead to Rs 30K cr loss: NGO

'TRAI's reduced spectrum prices will lead to Rs 30K cr loss' 
New Delhi: Telecom Watchdog, an NGO, has alleged that TRAI's recommendations on spectrum pricing favour large firms and would lead to about Rs 30,000 crore loss to the government.
"The recommendations (by TRAI) have been synchronised to favour large telecom firms, whose licenses are due for renewal in November 2014 in the two metros. The government is bound to lose about Rs 30,000 crore for this slash that TRAI has recommended," Telecom Watchdog Secretary Anil Kumar said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"We request you not to accept Trai's recommendations for slashing of spectrum in 900 MHz & 1800 MHz bands in Delhi & Mumbai; keep the reserve price at the same level or slightly less as compared to the previous auction price; and not to proceed with DoT's proposal to extend the tenure of Trai’s Chairman & Members from three years to five years," the NGO said.
Telecom Regulatory of India (TRAI) has recommended up to 62 per cent cut in base price of 900 Mhz spectrum and about 37 per cent cut in price of 2G spectrum compared to the amount fixed by government for last auction.
TRAI has suggested a pan-India reserve price of Rs 1,496 crore per MHz in the 1800 band. In the 900 MHz band, which is used by GSM players, it recommended a reserve price of Rs 288 crore per MHz for Delhi, Rs 262 crore for Mumbai and Rs 100 crore for Kolkata. These rates are about 60 per cent lower than the previous reserve price.