2G Scam: Supreme Court Quashes 122 Licences issued in 2008

[Venkatagiri 53]

Spectrum auction in March, Cabinet to clear CDMA price cut

The second round of spectrum auction will begin in March after the Cabinet decides on reducing the reserve price of 800 MHz band, used for offering CDMA-based mobile services.

“All auction will be held in March,” Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said after the EGoM meet in New Delhi. On CDMA auction, he said the bidding for the 800 MHz band will take place in all the circles.

Meanwhile, sources said the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) has proposed 30-50 per cent price cut in CDMA spectrum price and the Cabinet will take a final decision on the issue.

“Cabinet will decide on CDMA spectrum price cut. The auctions will begin on March 11,” said a source.

Government failed to auction the CDMA spectrum at 1.3 times higher reserve price than that of the GSM spectrum in 1800 Mhz band in auctions that concluded in November. The pan-India reserve price for 5 Mhz of spectrum in 1800 Mhz band was fixed at Rs. 14,000 crore.

The last round of spectrum auction fetched the exchequer just Rs. 9,407 crore, as against the government expectations of around Rs. 28,000 crore, on account of high reserve prices.

The Supreme Court in February last year had cancelled 122 licences in the 2G spectrum allocation case. It included CDMA licences of Sistema Shyam Teleservices in 21 telecom circles and Tata Teleservices’ in three circles.

It was necessary for these companies to win spectrum in the auction to continue operations in the circles where the validity of their licences will end on January 18. But due to high reserve price for the spectrum, the two companies did not bid in the auction.

Tata Teleservices has said it will shut down CDMA operations in Jammu and Kashmir, North East and Assam, while SSTL had filed curative petition before the apex court seeking reinstatement of its licences but the case is yet to come for hearing.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/spectrum-auction-in-march-cabinet-to-clear-cdma-price-cut/article4282485.ece?homepage=true

[commonman 228]

Since GoI has fixed a date of March for CDMA auction, it is expected that those licences would be allowed to operate till then.

[dinesh75 0]

Tata DOCOMO Will Get 4.4 mhz GSM Spectrum in Delhi Circle

by Sanjay Bafna on November 3, 2012 4:02 pm | TATA DOCOMO

There is some good news for Tata DOCOMO GSM Mobile services users, Govt of India has decided that Tata Teleservices will be given 4.4 mhz 2G spectrum for GSM services (in the 1800 MHz band) in Delhi circle after the completion of the current 2G spectrum auction process.

With this new development, Tata Teleservices will get 4.4 mhz of spectrum in Delhi & NCR circle, four years after having paid the required licence fee. The pending spectrum will be alloted to TTSL without either participating in the auction or paying the auction-determined price.

Earlier in July 2011, the TDSAT had also hauled up the India’s Telecom Ministry for delaying the allocation of start-up 2G spectrum to Tata Teleservices in Delhi -NCR circle for more than three years.

In November 2008, Tata Teleservices get pan-India license to operate GSM telecom services in 19 telecom circles out of 22 and has also been allotted spectrum in 18 telecom Circles, except Delhi. The company rolled out GSM services with brand name – Tata DOCOMO in all of these 18 telecom Circles in the quick span of just over a year.

In 2007 – 2008, Telecom Minister A Raja granted 122 New licences and 35 Dual-technology Licences (UAS), there were three companies – Videocon, Uninor and TTSL (Tata Docomo) that could not get spectrum in the Delhi circle because of non-availability.

So now we can expect commercial launch of Tata DOCOMO GSM Mobile services in Delhi circle in January 2013 or in first quarter of 2013.

[Abhishek Pujar 10]

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/egom-forto-50-cut-in-cdmaspectrum-base-price/498125/

the article here says that the cdma spectrum base prices have been cut. I do not much about it can some of the seniors please spill some light? does this affect the end user like us in any way? will we get cheaper plans? any benefit at al??

[krishnendu halder 24]

India has lowest voice tarrif in the world!Further lowering may not be possible in current scenario.But we can expect cheaper wireless data plans in the near future.

[Venkatagiri 53]

One line of thought is if lower base rate is translated into lower tariff (compared to GSM voice calls) that may bring back users to cdma.

After all what is the point in packing all the users in the GSM sector leaving the cdma traffic free

[inception 75]

Migrating from GSM to CDMA is not easy. Handsets are pretty less in numbers!

[krishnendu halder 24]

I dont think its about handsets,operators themselves have dual spectrum and are neglecting cdma business.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

^^^^^

Yes, Tata allows porting from their CDMA to GSM service, but not vice-versa...

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Uninor To Close Down Mumbai Operations From Midnight

Source

NEW DELHI, FEB 16:

Telecom operator Uninor said it will close its Mumbai operations from midnight following the Supreme Court (SC) order.

“The Court has ordered an immediate closure of operations and no temporary license too is available to allow a gradual process. Unfortunately, we have no choice now but to follow the Court’s order and close down our network immediately,” Sigve Brekke, Managing Director of Uninor said in a statement.

The Supreme Court in February 2012 cancelled 22 licences of Uninor.

The majority stakeholder of the company, Telenor participated in November 2012 auction through new entity Telewings Communications and won spectrum in six circles.

Telenor is now in the process of transferring business of Uninor in Maharashtra and Goa, Gujarat, UP East, UP West, Bihar and Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh service areas, to Telewings Communications.

Uninor said its operations in these service areas “will continue as fresh spectrum for 20 years has already been secured.”

Uninor will also sign roaming agreements with other operators to ensure that all Uninor customers get seamless connectivity when travelling to Mumbai.

“All Uninor customers from Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and other circles will continue to be able to use their Uninor phones in Mumbai,” the statement said.

[Praveen sinha 51]

In a very strange decision (dated 11th March) Supreme Court has passed order to all Telecom Operators that they can't port customers of companies which have lost their license to their network with effect from 11th of this month. Those who have ported before will be continued. Big big problem for customers who are from such companies and have still not ported their number.

Sent from LG Optimus G

[rajanmehta 4,056]

DoT refuses to extend licences of Vodafone, Airtel; asks telcos to participate in spectrum auctions

Source

NEW DELHI: In a major setback to Vodafone India, the telecom department has denied its request for extension of licences in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata that are coming up for renewal in late 2014. A top communications ministry official said a similar request from BhartiAirtel has been rejected as well.

In a communication to Vodafone, accessed by ET, the telecom department (DoT) has said under the new policy on spectrum allocation, airwaves have been delinked from licence. Therefore, the firm must participate in the auctions to be held later this year to access airwaves at market price.

"Unless you participate in auctions and get your bid confirmed, you would not be entitled to wireless licence, which is a requisite," DoT said. It added that Vodafone was given a chance to participate in auctions, concluded early this month, but it stayed away.

"In the circumstances, we find no reason to grant you an extension contemplated by Clause 4.1. It is also not expedient to do so as there is no inclination shown by you to come to settle new terms and conditions in pursuance of and in conformities of the extant policies...Consequently, your request for an extension for 10 years on the same terms and conditions stands rejected," the DoT notice said.

DoT's Refusal to Prolong Legal Battle

The department went on to add that government held the sole right to allocate spectrum and that Vodafone cannot claim any right, "much less preemptive right" with regard to extension of its permits under Clause 4.1 of the licence.

A Vodafone spokesperson said the company was 'deeply disappointed' with the rejection of its request. "Vodafone is deeply disappointed with the summary rejection of its request for extension of its licences in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata service areas by DoT. This decision is against the interests of our several million customers in these cities/circles. In addition, there appears to be no acknowledgment by DoT of the full and faithful operation of the licence (by Vodafone) for 18 years...Vodafone has also been consistently contributing several crores in revenues to the national exchequer. Clearly, in DoT's opinion, these aspects are not important for determining expe-diency," the spokesperson said.

A senior telecom department official added that similar notices would go out to Bharti Airtel by Monday or early next week. DoT's decision will prolong the legal battle between telecom operators and the government and will in all likelihood cast a shadow on the government's plan to refarm, or redistribute, airwaves in the 900 Mhz band.

[csmart 472]

License Terms clearly says "it may be renewed" and TELCOS are reading "may" as "shall". If you read the reply of Vodafone,

This decision is against the interests of our several million customers in these cities/circles.

it shows that they are aware what they are doing and they are saying that ONLY customers will suffer and they don't. They want to save hefty price that might be payable if they participate in auction. This way if they cannot save, but can delay for at least couple of years.

Edited March 23, 2013 by csmart

[commonman 228]

Jusr remembered what Sunol Bharti Mittal said on the launching of Rel Infocom (now telecom) - "bakri ko to halal hona hi hai, magar kisto mein