India's
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) this week revealed that seven
telcos, including disruptive newcomer Reliance Jio Infocomm, have
applied to take part in its upcoming spectrum auction.
Market leader Bharti Airtel appears on the list, as do Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Tata Teleservices has applied to take part, as have both Reliance Communications and Aircel, which agreed to merge their mobile businesses on Thursday.
As expected, state-run BSNL will not participate; the operator in August said "financial and other reasons" would keep it from bidding. India's other state-owned operator, MTNL will not take part either.
Perhaps the biggest absentee from the DoT's list is Telenor.
The Norwegian incumbent said in July that "the proposed spectrum prices do not give an acceptable level of return", adding that the company is evaluating its options with regard to its presence in India.
The government has set its sights on raising a minimum of 5.44 trillion rupees (€71 billion) from the auction; however, there are question marks over whether bidding will reach that target. Analyst firm Crisil Research expects bids to total a more modest INR1 trillion.
The auction is due to start on 1 October. On the block are 2,200 MHz of spectrum across the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands. Licences will be valid for 20 years; rollout obligations vary according to the frequency band.
Market leader Bharti Airtel appears on the list, as do Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Tata Teleservices has applied to take part, as have both Reliance Communications and Aircel, which agreed to merge their mobile businesses on Thursday.
As expected, state-run BSNL will not participate; the operator in August said "financial and other reasons" would keep it from bidding. India's other state-owned operator, MTNL will not take part either.
Perhaps the biggest absentee from the DoT's list is Telenor.
The Norwegian incumbent said in July that "the proposed spectrum prices do not give an acceptable level of return", adding that the company is evaluating its options with regard to its presence in India.
The government has set its sights on raising a minimum of 5.44 trillion rupees (€71 billion) from the auction; however, there are question marks over whether bidding will reach that target. Analyst firm Crisil Research expects bids to total a more modest INR1 trillion.
The auction is due to start on 1 October. On the block are 2,200 MHz of spectrum across the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands. Licences will be valid for 20 years; rollout obligations vary according to the frequency band.
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