Vodafone India has sought the withdrawal of the guidelines for the second round of spectrum auction, stating these are “illegal, discriminatory and benefiting one set of players”. Resident Director (Regulatory Affairs and Government Relations) T V Ramachandran, in a letter to Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar, has also raised questions on fixing reserve prices of 900 MHz at three times the price of 800 MHz, when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had recommended both the bands be treated on a par and 800 MHz should be made cheaper than 1,800 MHz.
Auction notice
The Department of Telecom (DoT) today issued a notice inviting applications for sale of spectrum in the second round of auction scheduled to start from March 11. The government expects to garner about Rs 45,000 crore from the airwave sales, even if spectrum is sold at the base price.
Plea to reconsider prices
The Cellular Operators Association has asked DoT to reconsider the “unsustainable spectrum prices” for the auction. There should be parity between 800MHz and 900MHz pricing for reserve price by reducing it for 900MHz to equal that of 800 MHz spectrum.