Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio have applied participate in India’s upcoming spectrum auction, according to the Department of Telecommunications. Aircel and Reliance Communications (RCom) have just announced their merger, but submitted separate applications for the auction. Tata Teleservices will also bid for spectrum license. Telenor was the only major operator that did not apply to bid in the auction. Operators were allowed to submit their applications until 14 September.
In India’s largest ever spectrum tender, the government will offer 2,354.55 MHz of spectrum worth around INR 5.63 trillion.
In March, Telenor announced it may exit India if it does not manage to secure additional capacity for its networks at a reasonable cost. In July, the operator said it would likely not participate in the spectrum auction because it wanted to control its capital expenditure. “We recognize the significant operational and financial improvement delivered by our Indian operation. We have, however, after thorough consideration, decided not to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction, as we believe the proposed spectrum prices do not give an acceptable level of return," said Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Group.
The last date for withdrawal of applications is 22 September for operators. The auction is scheduled for launch on 1 October.
