Govt expects Rs 9,497 crore revenue from auction of CDMA spectrum

21 Jan 2013 Evaluate

The government is expected to get over Rs 9,497 crore from the sale of CDMA band spectrum in the second round of auctions in March and one-time fee on airwaves held by existing operators. If the entire CDMA spectrum auction is sold at the revised starting price, then the estimated auction proceeds will be Rs 9,497.15 crore. It includes Rs 6,463.95 crore from auction directly and Rs 3,033.20 crore from one-time spectrum fee.

The bidders of the CDMA spectrum are likely to be given option of deferred payment, as was recommended by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, where they will have an option to pay 25 per cent of the bid amount. Pursuant to which, the government will be able to get at least Rs 1,615 crore from sale of spectrum in the auction.

Earlier, the Union Cabinet on January 17 approved a 50 per cent reduction in the reserve price of CDMA spectrum for the auction to be scheduled in March. In the previous auction, reserve price for CDMA spectrum was 11 times higher than the amount telecom operators paid in 2008, which did not attract bidders due to high reserve price. The decision follows a recommendation by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) which suggested a 50 per cent cut in the reserve price of 800 MHz band.

Meanwhile, the one-time spectrum fee will be levied on existing players including Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Sistema Shyam and both state-owned telecom operators BSNL and MTNL with effect from January 1, 2013 for rest of their licence period.

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