​Govt gets just Rs 3639cr from CDMA auction - Times of India

The author has posted comments on this articleTNN | Mar 12, 2013, 05.03AM IST NEW DELHI: In a setback to the government's plan of raising hefty funds from sale of spectrum, it managed to raise just Rs 3,639 crore — less than one-tenth of the original projection — on Monday when 800 MHz airwaves used for CDMA operations were auctioned. However, no money will come till March 2016 after which the sole — and hence successful — bidder Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) will pay Rs 2,013 crore (deducting the Rs 1,626 crore paid earlier) in 10 annual installments. Russian conglomerate SSTL had applied for spectrum in 11 circles but bid for only eight on Monday. So it will now shut operations in Mumbai, Maharashtra and UP (east), the three areas that saw no takers. The eight circles SSTL has got spectrum are Delhi, UP (west), Kolkata, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal. According to Vsevolod Rozanov, president & CEO, Sistema Shyam TeleServices, "Given the range of variables we have considered and the spectrum cost for 800 Mhz, it was a big challenge to arrive at a core list of eight circles and to bid accordingly. With Rajasthan circle also part of MTS India's footprint, we would be able to service 40% of country's population, address over 60% of data business potential, safeguard 75% of our current revenues and significantly optimize our losses. Our go forward plan includes building an even stronger MTS brand in the country by focusing on our data centric-voice enabled strategy." An auction held last November saw GSM airwaves fetching just Rs 9,407 crore, while CDMA waves had no takers then due to high price. Since then, the government slashed price by half. Even after that SSTL was the sole bidder on Monday. According to telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar, there will be more auctions in next 12 months. The empowered group of minister on spectrum will now meet to decide the future course of action for spectrum sale and most importantly review the price of airwaves. SSTL, which provides telecom services under the brand name MTS, was among the nine whose 122 licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court last February. After 21 of its licences were cancelled, it shut operations in 10 circles — Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Punjab. The companies said it has 3,000 employees and of them 10% were employed in these 10 regions. via Business - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNH_SvsA1iy4mzx8U2-P2cageXfmUA&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Govt-gets-just-Rs-3639cr-from-CDMA-auction/articleshow/18920737.cms

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