Ahead of the coming auction of 2G telecom spectrum, the government today decided to allow all players to bid for all bands.
That, effectively, means a Bharti Airtel or a Vodafone, which have licences to operate GSM services, can bid for CDMA spectrum, if they wish to.
“All players, whether incumbent or new can bid for all bands of spectrum,” Telecom Commission Chairman and Secretary Department of Telecom R Chandrashekhar said after the meeting on unified licence.
However, he clarified that existing telecom players bidding in bands where they don't hold spectrum will be treated as new entrants in the 2G auction.
"If an operator has spectrum in one band but wants to bid in another band where it doesn't have spectrum, it would be treated as a new entrant and has to bid for the minimum number of slots which a new entrant is required to bid," he added.
A new player has to bid for a minimum of four blocks of spectrum in 1,800 MHz band or two blocks in 800 MHz band in each service area.
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That, effectively, means a Bharti Airtel or a Vodafone, which have licences to operate GSM services, can bid for CDMA spectrum, if they wish to.
“All players, whether incumbent or new can bid for all bands of spectrum,” Telecom Commission Chairman and Secretary Department of Telecom R Chandrashekhar said after the meeting on unified licence.
However, he clarified that existing telecom players bidding in bands where they don't hold spectrum will be treated as new entrants in the 2G auction.
"If an operator has spectrum in one band but wants to bid in another band where it doesn't have spectrum, it would be treated as a new entrant and has to bid for the minimum number of slots which a new entrant is required to bid," he added.
A new player has to bid for a minimum of four blocks of spectrum in 1,800 MHz band or two blocks in 800 MHz band in each service area.
Read More . . . .