Supreme Court Extends 2G Spectrum Auction Deadline till January 11, 2013

India’s Supreme Court today extends 2G Spectrum auction deadline till January 11, 2013 and allowed mobile service operators whose current licences are set to be revoked to operate their mobile services until January 18, 2013.

It will be the big relief for the operators like MTS India (SSTL) and Uninor (as their current licenses are valid till September 7) which are serious to continue the services among all new operators whose 2G mobile service licences were canceled by the Supreme Court in its 2G verdict on 2nd February 2012.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had earlier this month sought an extension to the 2G spectrum auction deadline, which is set to expire on August 31, after an inter-ministerial panel (GOM) decided to seek more time. DoT had said in its plea that the deadline for holding the auction should be extended to November 12 while allocation of new permits and frequencies to the successful bidders would be done by January 30, 2013.

The DoT today also issued a memorandum on the auction of 2G spectrum, with Delhi being the most expensive at a reserve price of Rs 693.06 crore per 1.25 MHz. The price of 1800 Mhz spectum for Mumbai is the second highest at Rs 678.45 crore. Jammu & Kashmir is the cheapest at Rs 6.33 crore.

DoT has fixed the earnest money, a deposit a buyer makes to the DoT to show its faith in a transaction, for pan-India 2G Spectrum bidding at Rs 442 crore.

A notice inviting applications (NIA) will be issued on 28 September and the last date for submission of applications would be 19 October. E-auctions begin for 2G, or the 1800 Mhz band, on 12 November but they will be held for the 800 Mhz band (for CDMA services) only two days after the 2G auctions have closed.

jaswanth roy September 1, 2012 at 10:01 pm

Seems Videocon also going Uninor way in Tamilnadu ? It does not accept any top ups and special tariff vouchers like ISD which I tried through net banking refill process and also website like recharge it now . When I tried many retailers said it does not accept any recharge and one retailer said it accepts only 50, 100, 200 top ups .Lately after two years of continued usage it now sends sms requesting fresh documents and photograph for uninterrupted services . May be on its way to wind up its business in Tamilnadu ? . But, MTS is now aggressively promoting its tariffs, low cost hand sets and Android smart phones . Also new authorized MTS exclusive shop retailers are opening their business . As no confirmation coming from both Videocon and MTS I really doubt their continued business at least in Tamilnadu .

Dharmesh August 31, 2012 at 11:46 pm

@ S.Sudhakar any news about videocon

Sudhakar August 29, 2012 at 7:19 pm

Already Indian companies are sucking money illegally from customers by activating VAS without customer’s consent. Then think about foreign operators.

Saurabh August 29, 2012 at 3:34 pm

@S.Sudhakar, @Abhishek,

Stop fighting guys. We are living in India and we all know that incoming charges were scrapped here in 2003. Whether U.S charge for incoming calls/sms must not be a cause of concern for us. As far AT&T’s participation in 2G auction is concerned, we will have the final list of bidders in next 60 days.

S.Sudhakar August 29, 2012 at 12:56 pm

Abhishek :

Check verizon’s 10¢/Minute Plan. It costs 25¢ for outgoing SMS and 20¢ per SMS for incoming SMS. The same is charged by AT&T’s pay as you go plan. Don’t talk like a slum.

Also none of the Indian operators charge for incoming SMS even during international roaming (except when roaming with one network in U.S and one in Canada) in almost all the countries. But Verizon and AT&T charge for incoming SMS even within the U.S and outside the U.S. What do you say?. I am not talking about unlimited plans. The incoming SMS should be free in basic / pay as you go plan also.

Also some of the U.S operators charge the Indian subscribers with Indian SIM (international roaming) for unanswered calls for more than 30 seconds and also the call is charged to the caller from the time the mobile starts ringing. I think the same may apply for U.S subscribers within the U.S. Will you call this a fair policy?. Tell me. Go to airtel.in website and go to postpaid section and open the international roaming page. choost the CIRCLE and the country as United States and click SUBMIT. Then see the bottom of the page for SPECIAL CONDITIONS !!!.

Abhishek August 29, 2012 at 11:47 am

Sudhakar :
Abhishek :
Talk with sense man. AT&T and Verizon are charging for incoming calls and incoming calls (in addition to outgoing calls and SMS) in the United States. Do you want this in India?. Why this kolaveri?.

Dear Sudhakar, Dont Talk like Crap. Dude, My Brother Is Residing In Chicago, US. He Is A Customer Of AT&T. Btw,, Who Told U That They Are Charging For Incoming Calls And Incoming SMSes. That Bulshit Old Policy Has Already Been Implemented By New One. Got It. WakeUppppppp Sid……

S.Sudhakar August 29, 2012 at 11:03 am

Videocon CC said that NEW STVs cannot be enabled because of network problem.

S.Sudhakar August 29, 2012 at 10:28 am

Dharmesh :
The recharge is failed at ezrecharge.in . I think VIDEOCON is also going out !!!. Users port out soon !!!.

S.Sudhakar August 29, 2012 at 10:27 am

Correction :
AT&T and Verizon are charging for incoming calls and incoming SMS (in addition to outgoing calls and SMS) in the United States

Sudhakar August 29, 2012 at 7:09 am

Dharmesh,
The VIDEOCON recharge was not successful when tried through rechargeitnow.com. The status is pending when done through easymobilerecharge.com and through ezrecharge.in. I have to check the status after coming back home from work.

Sudhakar August 29, 2012 at 6:19 am

Talk with sense man. AT&T and Verizon are charging for incoming calls and incoming calls (in addition to outgoing calls and SMS) in the United States. Do you want this in India?. Why this kolaveri?.

Abhishek August 28, 2012 at 11:40 pm

Foreign Players Like: AT&T With Mahendra Tech, Verizon, BT And QTel May Parcipate On Upcoming 2G Auction. So, I Am Really Looking Forward To See Atleast AT&T In India.

Dharmesh August 28, 2012 at 11:34 pm

@Sudhakar
STV AND FRC NOT HAPPENING IN VIDEOCON FOR CHENNAI N TAMILNADU…

Chinmoy August 28, 2012 at 10:51 pm

Not sure but I think Reliance Infotel will take part .

Soumen Ghosh August 28, 2012 at 10:26 pm

Is there any new player interested to participate this auction?

Saurabh August 28, 2012 at 9:34 pm

Forgot to mention that I considered excess demand for spectrum while calculating price increment for Delhi and Haryana circle. As per the MoI issued by DoT if there will be negative demand in any circle, there will be no price increment in different rounds. Price increment will be there only if demand increases i.e more than 2 companies bid for 4 blocks. If 3 operators bid for one circle price increment will be 1 percent of base price every clock round. If 4, it will be increased by 5 percent and if 5 or more, price will be increased by 10 percent in every round.

When 3G auctions were held, I found in Data Files released by DoT which has details of every round, that some companies participated in different rounds only to shoot prices up and create problem for other operators or in simple words they made others pay more. Well it’s natural thing that some parties are not intersted but try to create problem for others who badly needs it.

Every one knows that Idea will try to out-bid others to retain licenses at any cost and other companies will try to make things complicated for them.

Saurabh August 28, 2012 at 8:42 pm

It’s good that SC extended the deadline as it was the need of the hour. The whole auction process got delayed because of some major issues which included setting of Reserve Price which I find the foremost thing to do as nothing would have progressed without it. Another reasons for delay was Govt’s inability to take timely decision. But now we have the roadmap i.e auctioneer is final in name of Times Internet Limited, reserve price is set for different bands and dates to carry out whole auction process is also provided by DoT.

Last time, the honorable Supreme Court had just extended the timeline without any penalty being imposed on Govt for not meeting the deadline but this time they have taken care of some points like Centre will have to face penalty if they don’t complete the process within the time provided.

Besides this, I went through the Memorandum of Information being put by DoT on their website and found some intersting points regarding price increment every clock round which can make participants not to bid. I remember when 3G auction was held, we had a total 183 rounds of bidding. The base price set for 5MHz spectrum in 2.1GHz band was low at Rs.3500 crores. But this time the reserve price is too high which looks like a final price. So, I don’t feel we will see more than 10 rounds or even less in some circles.

Take an example: Delhi circle its reserve price being set at 693.06 crores for 1.25MHz spectrum in 1800MHz band or Rs.2772.40 crores for 5MHz in same band. The price increment per clock round is Rs.68.50 for 1.25MHz spectrum or one block for Delhi circle which stands out at Rs.274 crores for 5MHz or 4 blocks. If we have say 10 rounds of bidding in Delhi circle, the final price will hit as high as Rs.5512 crores. I don’t know who will pay that much amount but operators like Uninor, MTS or Videocon can’t. They had got Pan-India spectrum for just Rs.1651 crores in 2008 for 5MHz spectrum in all circles and now even the reserve price for only one circle i.e Delhi is set at Rs.2772.40 crores. Forget about Pan-India. Similarlly for Haryana circle the base price for one block of 1.25MHz is set at Rs.46.52 crores or Rs.186.08 crores for 5MHz spectrum with price increment of Rs.8.5 crores every round. In 10 rounds the price will shoot to Rs.271.08 crores.

I don’t understand why Govt asked for extension till Jan 11, 2013. We can’t have much rounds which will result in early completion of process.

Besides this it has been stated that auction for 800MHz band will start after 2 days of completion. I don’t know when base price for 800MHz band is set at 1.3 times of 1800MHz, why Govt want’s price discovery via auction? Why not just ask bidders to pay 1.3 times the final price of 1800MHz band. It’s just illogical to have these 1.3 or 1.5 times statics only for reserve price.

As far as A category circles like Delhi or Mumbai or A.P or T.N are concerned, even cash-rich companies will find it hard to bid. So Uninor or Videocon will concentrate more on retaining B or C category circle.

Let see what surprises are to come.

Sudhakar August 28, 2012 at 8:40 pm

Dharmesh :
There is no news about videocon. It is silent now.

Dharmesh August 28, 2012 at 6:29 pm

And what about videocon are they going to continue buisness in tamilnadu….

Asit Paul August 28, 2012 at 3:16 pm

Hope Idea Cellular will win back their licence in Assam and North-East Circles.

Pratik August 28, 2012 at 11:11 am

It is simple reason.

Government is waiting for foreign player so they can sell their share before auction other wise there is a huge lost for them.

Delay of 2G auction is it self a scam.

pradip August 28, 2012 at 10:28 am

@chaitanya
agreed….

Arka August 28, 2012 at 10:21 am

Anybody knows,when NTP 2012 will be implemented?

rajiev August 28, 2012 at 9:03 am

ANIRBAN :
Good move by Supreme court.atleast the good customer frndly operators receive some more time to settle their future plans and investments in India.

agreed!

ANIRBAN August 28, 2012 at 12:53 am

Good move by Supreme court.atleast the good customer frndly operators receive some more time to settle their future plans and investments in India.

Lovegin August 28, 2012 at 12:12 am

ELLAAM MAYA THANNE MAYA LEELA THANNE OH GOD OF TELECOM……..

chaitanya August 27, 2012 at 11:37 pm

The Deadline never come for UNINOR and MTS,and no need for that,
There must a another scam happen but will not come in front of us.
(May already happen???)
God Knows

Animesh August 27, 2012 at 10:03 pm

Its is sad to hear that some operators would need to shut down their operations due to prevailing corruption and red tape in the entire process of allotment of spectrum and licenses.Operators like UNINOR/MTS should rather sell of their operations wherein they have lost their licenses (considering that they do not get back they same for those circles) Any new operator buying out the license can pay up the required fees and duties. Since the operators have already spent a lot of amount on resources and infrastructure it is absolutely unfair to only penalize the operations while letting their partners to the offense scotfree.We must also look in to the fact about the people would would lose their jobs as a result of this. Any new operator would definitely save up on huge investment on infrastructure and resources

Mane August 27, 2012 at 9:25 pm

This may repeat mnp deadline. Mnp deadline missed 4 times and delayed about two years.

Sonal August 27, 2012 at 8:37 pm

not Deadline is born(line)great india.

Sudhakar August 27, 2012 at 8:30 pm

I think the court and the government got SOME LUMP SUM from the providers to extend the deadline. Shame on INDIAN LAWS.

zeeshan August 27, 2012 at 8:30 pm

@Lohit
1800 Mhz can be used for any technology after this auction. So it is not a just 2G auction.

Lohit August 27, 2012 at 7:18 pm

By the time next 2g auctions take place in India, world will junk 2g and move ahead with 3g & 4g

bharathkumara August 27, 2012 at 6:28 pm

lol, this govt is worst in case, they are not worry of any company, they are worry on money, what they got, that is been deposited or stored in swiss bank.. lol

Sayan Chattopadhyay August 27, 2012 at 6:03 pm

Amit Deb Biswas :
at last it will be december 2015 …..

ha ha ha ha.

sunny August 27, 2012 at 5:57 pm

speechless?? lets see in january

vovlo August 27, 2012 at 5:21 pm

hahahahahahha….india will never proceed with this type of backward decisions

Spiderman August 27, 2012 at 5:08 pm

understood the reason behind cases are being dragged to years !
If somebody come & started staying in ur property & he tells its my property & asking us to go n file the case, I’m sure it will take atleast 20 years to get our property back ! Thanks to the Courts for dragging each & every cases to years

Yukthi August 27, 2012 at 4:53 pm