Ambanis, Bharti, Vodafone, 5 Others To Slug It Out For Spectrum

BENGALURU: Eight private telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, RCom, Reliance Jio and Uninor today submitted applications to bid for spectrum in the auctions. 
 
Aircel and Tata Teleservices too have opted to bid for spectrum.
 
The participation of Reliance Jio Infocomm, Uninor, Tata Teleservices and Aircel has enhanced the chances of aggressive bidding in the auction.
 
However, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, a potential buyer of CDMA spectrum, opted out citing high base price and legal issue with DoT. Videocon Telecom also did not submit its application.
 
"Applications from Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, Aircel, Reliance Jio Infocom, Uninor and Tata Teleservices have submitted their forms," a Department of Telecom official told PTI.
 
Most of the spectrum being put up for the auction is presently held by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Telecom. Their licences are set to expire in 2015-16.
 
It is mandatory for these companies to bid for spectrum if they have to continue offering mobile and other telecom services as their permit is expiring.
 
The government expects to garner over 80,000 crore from the sale of radiowaves for providing 2G as well as 3G services, going by the reserve price.
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