Govt meet reveals telecoms gung-ho on 2G auction

In the run-up to the next round of 2G auctions, the DoT on Thursday organised a conference which was attended by almost all the telecom majors. CNBC-TV18's Malvika Jain reports on the highlights of the meet.

The air at the meet was full of complaints regarding high reserve price. The interest shown by the telecom companies at the meet indicates that the bidding at the 2G auctions in November will be stiff and competitive. Participants included representatives from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Uninor, Tata Tele, Qualcomm and MTS.
Government representatives in fact pointed out that queries were received from a few international bidders and is another clear indication that the competition will be tough at the spectrum auction.
The telecom companies voiced concerns regarding the design of the spectrum auction and expressed fears that inherent flaws in design might result in high reserve prices.
Telecom representatives also had queries regarding computation of the spectrum usage charges, estimates of the rollout obligations, the kind of licence that would be issued and the guidelines for the unified licence which the government intends to issue with the spectrum that is going to be auctioned.
The meeting clearly brought to the fore, that despite reservations, the telecom companies were interested in seeking clarification and participating in the auction.
The conference was also witness to the tiff between joint venture partners Telenor and Unitech. Uninor's representative asked who would be granted spectrum if majority stakeholder Telenor bid alone in the auction.