Telecom EGoM to seek apex court advice on unsold spectrum

Telenor has been allowed avail of adjustments in its spectrum charges, against the Rs 1,658 cr Unitech wireless had paid as entry fee in 2008

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom on Wednesday decided it would seek the Supreme Court’s directions on what it should do with unsold spectrum after the March 11 auction of 800-MHz (CDMA) spectrum.

The decision came after three alternatives were suggested after discussions on a note prepared by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for the EGoM. One, stick to the current base price for unsold 1800-MHz spectrum for unsold circles, too. Two, revise the price. And, three, seek fresh recommendation from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), on the basis of a fresh reference.

“After the March 11 auction, we will assess the situation and go to SC regarding future auctions. No decision was taken by the EGoM today,” Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal said after the meeting.

DoT had planned to auction 1,800-MHz spectrum for four circles, 800-MHz for 21 circles, besides 900-MHz, from March 11. However, it failed to get any bidder for the 1,800-MHz band, while only one operator — Sistema Shyam Teleservices — applied for 800-Mhz spectrum. The weak response was a repeat of the previous round, of November last year, which, too, had seen much of the spectrum in 18 circles going unsold. The bidding for 900-MHz spectrum for the Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles will not take place as some telcos have moved SC against the proposed auction.

Another issue on the EGoM’s agenda was a request from Telenor and others for adjustment of spectrum auction fees against what they had paid in December 2008 for pan-Indian licences, which were later cancelled following a Supreme Court order last year. The panel decided the government would allow Telenor to adjust the spectrum charges against the entry fee of Rs 1,658 crore Unitech Wireless, its earlier JV with the Unitech group, had paid in 2008.

The government had earlier denied an adjustment for Telenor, as it had bid in the November auction by floating a new company — Telewings Communications — and won spectrum in six circles for Rs 4,018.28 crore.

The EGoM was also expected to take a decision on the timeline for the third round of auctions for 1,800-MHz spectrum across all unsold circles. DoT had earlier said it would conduct it to allocate unsold spectrum across India to abide by the SC order of February 15, 2012, which had said all unsold spectrum should be auctioned. But the panel could not take a decision on this on Wednesday.