Telcos submit Rs 16.5k crore as earnest money for auction

Move indicates all the telcos will bid aggressively in the auction, scheduled for Mar 4

Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Jio has submitted maximum earnest money deposits at Rs 4500 crore for participating in the spectrum auction, followed by Idea Cellular with Rs 4,000 crore. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have submitted EMDs to the tune of over Rs 3,000 crore each, which indicates all the telcos will bid aggressively in the upcoming spectrum auction.

According to sources in the department of telecommunications, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices have deposited EMD at around Rs 1500-2000 crore each while Uninor, Aircel, Reliance Communications each have deposited EMD around Rs 1000 crore. Idea’s licenses in nine circles are coming up for renewal, while Reliance Telecom has to renew licenses in seven circles in 2015-16. The EMD figures could  not be independently confirmed from the companies.

In all, telcos have estimated to deposit guarantees over Rs 16,500 crore to the government.

A telecom operator has to deposit EMD in the form of bank guarantees with the DoT so that it can participate in the auction for spectrum.The EMD varies between 16-25 per cent of the reserve price in a circle.

All these companies submitted their applications yesterday for the auction of spectrum in 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz band slated to start from March 4 this year.

The government expects to rake in Rs 80,000-1 lakh-crore from the sale of spectrum, out of which Rs 25,000 crore will come in the current fiscal.

While Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have to buy back spectrum in the 900 Mhz band as their licenses (six of Bharti and seven of Vodafone) are coming up for renewal in 2015-16. Reliance Jio will be looking to bid in the 1800 Mhz band as well as 900 Mhz, according to experts.

In the last auction in February 2014, Reliance Jio was able to grab spectrum in the 1,800-MHz band in only 14 circles. The company, launching its fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) data services in June, has had to change tack from earlier when it was depending only on the 2,300-MHz band for the LTE rollout. It has now decided to also use the 1,800-MHz band that is used globally for 4G.

The lone CDMA player Sistema Shyam TeleServices decided not to bid in the auction as the “pricing of the 800-MHz spectrum is high and does not merit a strong business case”, raising questions on its expansion in India.

Along with other incumbents such as Airtel and Idea Cellular, Sistema Shyam has also challenged some of the conditions in the auction document at the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) or courts. The cases are expected to come up for hearing on Wednesday.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) on Monday moved the Supreme Court, asking the auctions not be stayed, the hearing for which has now been fixed for February 25.

HOW THEY STACK UP

• Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices have deposited EMD at around Rs 1500-2000 cr each
• Uninor, Aircel, Reliance Communications each have deposited EMD around Rs 1000 cr
• The govt expects to rake in Rs 80,000-1 lakh-crore from the sale of spectrum, out of which Rs 25,000 cr will come in the current fiscal
• All these companies submitted their applications on Monday for the auction of spectrum in 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz band slated to start from March 4 this year