In a move that will lead to increase in competition for the incumbent operators for the forthcoming auction of third generation (3G) spectrum, the department of telecommunications (DoT) is contemplating a move to provide 2G spectrum as well to the stand-alone winners of auction.
As per the revised memorandum issued by the DoT in October, along with the incumbent operators which have the Unified Access Service License (UASL), any player having experience of running 3G services is allowed to bid. The clause is primarily meant for the foreign operators. The DoT has also clarified that foreign operators can bid stand-alone and arrange a minority partner later.
However, since a foreign operator would not have the 2G spectrum which is required for running standard mobile operations, there might be some confusion for foreign players on when would they be able to secure the same. This would result in poor bidding by foreign telecom operators resulting in lower revenue for the government.
To resolve the issue, the DoT has now proposed that the 2G spectrum should be offered to stand-alone winners of 3G bidders at the price of Rs 1,658 crore for pan India operations, the same price that was charged from new players last year. It also added that the 3G auction winners would be given priority to the over 300 applications pending with the government for a 2G mobile telephony license. The issue is likely to be discussed in the next meeting of empowered group of ministers on the 3G auction.