Update EGoM recommends 1.3 times base price !!

[Chief]

The Empowered Group of Ministers on telecom, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to meet on June 20 to decide on spectrum auction related issues.

In this meeting, the EGoM is expected to take final call on minimum price at which spectrum auction should begin.

"This meeting is crucial to finalise all spectrum auction details before he (Mukherjee) resigns," sources said.

Issues have to be sorted this month so as to meet Supreme Court set deadline of August 31 to complete spectrum auction, they added.

Mukherjee would resign before he files nomination for the post of President after the return of the Prime Minister from his foreign trip on June 23.

Sectoral regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, following a consultation process with industry, recommended the base price of Rs. 3,622 for a megahertz of airwaves frequencies to be auctioned and over Rs. 18,000 crore price for pan-India operations.

This is around 10 times high than what companies paid in 2008 when A Raja was the telecom minister.

In the last EGoM meet held on June 5, sources said, the EGoM has firmed up the schedule for the auction of 10 Mhz of airwaves in 8 slots of 1.25 Mhz each in the frequency band which is currently used for 2G GSM services.

The EGoM also finalised the auction 3.75 Mhz of airwaves in the frequency band currently used for CDMA services.

The airwaves are crucial for telecom services as they are used to transmit signal for mobile telephony and industry feels that high spectrum price will increase the tariff of telecom services in the range of 30 to 100%.

 

[Chief]

EGoM meet to finalise base spectrum price on June 21


The Empowered Group of Ministers on telecom, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will meet on June 21 to decide on the base price of auction of spectrum, sources said.

"It (EGoM meet) is scheduled for June 21 evening," a source said. The meeting was expected to be held on June 20. The meeting is crucial for the telecom sector as the EGoM will decide on the future course of action by companies.
The issues, specially pricing of spectrum, have to be sorted this month so as to met Supreme Court set deadline of August 31 to complete spectrum auction.

Also, Mukherjee would resign before he files nomination for the post of President after the return of the Prime Minister from his foreign trip on June 23.

Sectoral regulator TRAI, following a consultation process with industry, recommended the base price of Rs 3,622 crore (rpt) Rs 3,622 crore for a megahertz of airwaves frequencies to be auctioned and over Rs 18,000 crore price for pan-India operations.

Bidders for spectrum used for CDMA services will have to pay double of this price as per last decision taken by Telecom Commission, inter-ministerial panel at telecom ministry. Service providers both CDMA and GSM players have opposed the high spectrum price. The industry feels that high spectrum price will increase the tariff of telecom services in the range of 30 to 100 per cent.

Sistema JSFC, majority stakeholder in Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), has said that it will quit India telecom business if the minimum price for bidding is not brought down to reasonable level. SSTL is one of the companies whose mobile services permits were cancelled by the Supreme Court in February. They will have to obtain spectrum through auction to continue their services.

The pricing decision is crucial for existing 2G GSM service provider like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and others, as government has proposed to redistribute airwaves being used by them at the time of renewal of their licence at double of the minimum price recommended by Trai.

In the last meet held on June 5, sources said the EGoM has firmed up the schedule for the auction of 10 Mhz of airwaves in 8 slots of 1.25 Mhz each in the frequency band which is currently used for 2G GSM services.
The EGoM also finalised the auction 3.75 Mhz of airwaves in the frequency band currently used for CDMA services.


EGoM meet to finalise base spectrum price on June 21 - India News - IBNLive

 

[Chief]

EGoM on spectrum pricing expected next week



The Empowered Group of Ministers on telecom may meet next week to discuss on crucial issue of spectrum price and related issues for auction which is due before August 31.

The crucial meeting of EGoM, which was scheduled for Thursday to decide on spectrum pricing and related issues, had been deferred indefinitely. Sources had said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is heading the group, did not want to sit on a judgement on such an important issue as he is entering Presidential race.

In February 2012, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 2G telecom licences issued during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja, and asked the government to complete spectrum auction by August 31.

"Hopefully Empowered Group of Minister should meet next week," a senior government official said. The official added that there will be no impact on current schedule of auction if the decision on minimum price of airwaves to be sold is decided by the first week of July.

Now, with just about 70 days left from the August 31 deadline, government is under pressure to expedite the process for spectrum auction.

The last spectrum auction for 3G and wireless broadband services took a total of 50 days to be complete. The 3G auction was completed in 34 days after completion of 183 rounds of bidding and BWA auction took 16 days to end after 117 rounds of bidding.

The official also said that Telecom Ministry may circulate final cabinet note on spectrum policy in next week but only after receiving response of all ministries.
"Draft cabinet note has been circulated. After receiving inputs from various ministries, DoT will send final cabinet note... hopefully in next week," the official said.
Telecom ministry has proposed to charge all operators from the date the decision is made. The charges will be levied based on final spectrum price arrived through auction due before August 31.

Telecom companies like Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communication which started pan-India telecom services late and have more years than incumbent players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone have opposed the move.

At present, the reference price to fix spectrum price for auction is minimum of Rs 3,622 crore for a unit of airwaves and over Rs 18,000 crore for pan-India operations of new players as recommended by sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

This recommendation has been severely criticised by industry saying that it will kill the industry and raise existing telecom tariff in the range of 30 to 100 per cent.

 

[Xen]

Telecom EGoM meeting postponed


A crucial meeting of the reconstituted Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), scheduled for today, has been postponed, Agriculture Minister and head of the ministerial panel Sharad Pawar said.

The meeting of the EGoM, the first after Pranab Mukherjee resigned as the Finance Minister to contest Presidential election, was to decide on auction of telecom spectrum.

"The meeting has been postponed because I have got some other work," Pawar told PTI here. "The meeting will be held either tomorrow or day after tomorrow".
The EGoM had to be reconstituted after exit of Mukherjee, who was heading it.

The panel was previously scheduled to meet on June 21 to decide on spectrum pricing and related issues but was deferred as Mukherjee did not want to sit on a judgement on such an important issue as he was entering Presidential race.

In February 2012, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 2G telecom licences issued during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja, and asked the government to complete spectrum auction by August 31.


BS

 

[Xen]

Sharad Pawar writes to PM, quits as telecom EGOM head

Fearing attempts to drag him into controversies, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday recused himself from heading the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom, three days after he replaced Pranab Mukherjee in the job.

Pawar, who was to chair the first meeting of the reconstituted EGoM on Monday, first postponed the meeting and then wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recalling how attempts were made to drag him in the controversy surrounding the allocation of 2G spectrum and that it would be appropriate for him to recuse himself from heading the EGoM.

The Prime Minister has agreed to "relieve me from the responsibility of Chairman of EGoM on vacation of spectrum and auction of 3G spectrum and to look into grant of license and allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 service areas," he said in a statement

"I am thankful to the Prime Minister of India for giving me the responsibility of heading the EGoM on vacation of spectrum and auction of 3G spectrum, and to look into the grant of license and allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 service areas," he said.

However, he recalled that attempts had been made in the past to drag him in the controversy surrounding the allocation of 2G spectrum.

"These allegation were false and ill-motivated, which I strongly refuted. Neither in the personal capacity nor in the official, I was connected with any of the decision making process in this sector," Pawar said.

"At this juncture, I believe that my association in the decision making process as the Chairman of the EGoM, may further motivate the vested elements to try to drag me in the controversy. As such, I thought it will be appropriate for me to recuse myself from the position of the Chairman of the EGoM on this subject," he said.

The agriculture minister was on Friday named the head of the EGoM after Pranab Mukherjee quit as finance minister to contest Presidential elections.

At the height of the 2G spectrum controversy and when arrests were made in the case, Pawar's name was sought to be linked to DB Group-promoted Swan Telecom, a beneficiary of 2G spectrum allocated by then Telecom Minister A Raja in 2008. The charge was then strongly denied by Pawar.


HT

 

[Xen]

Chidambaram to Head Telecom Panel​

India's federal home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram will chair a ministerial panel set up to decide on telecommunication-bandwidth auctions, a top government official said Friday.

Mr. Chidambaram will head a nine-member panel of ministers set up to decide on the modalities of proposed auctions, Federal Telecom Secretary R. Chandrashekhar said.

The home minister will replace former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who stepped down in June to contest India's presidential election due this month.

Following Mr. Mukherjee's resignation, India had named Farm Minister Sharad Pawar to lead the panel. But Mr. Pawar earlier this week opted out as he didn't want to be dragged into any controversy over the sale of telecommunication bandwidth.

India's telecommunications sector is under a cloud following a multi billion-dollar scam related to the sale of wireless licenses in 2008. Many licenses were canceled by India's Supreme Court this year and will have to be resold through auctions.

The ministerial panel now decides on several crucial issues related to the auctions, including the starting prices, as the government races to complete the spectrum sale by Aug. 31. However, the final decision on the starting prices for the spectrums sale would be left to the cabinet, Mr. Chandrashekhar said.

He didn't disclose when the panel would meet next.


Chidambaram to Head Telecom Panel - WSJ.com

 

[Xen]

The first meeting of the reconstituted Empowered Group of Ministers on spectrum pricing will take place on July 12.

The meeting is scheduled to take place in the South Block office of Defence Minister A K Antony, who is part of the seven-member committee which is headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Sources said the meeting has been scheduled in Antony's office in deference to his seniority.

The meeting is to decide to matters related to auction of airwaves for telecom services due before August 31.

EGoM on telecom to meet on July 12 | Business Standard

 

[Xen]

A high powered ministerial panel headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday decided to make it mandatory for telecom operators who will get spectrum through auction to roll-out services in 30% of block level headquarters in five years.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) also discussed the pricing of spectrum which as per the Supreme Court mandated deadline has to be auctioned by August 31.

However, no decision was taken and the panel is likely to meet again on Friday.

"Under the new proposal, for those who acquire fresh spectrum... the roll-out obligations would be to cover 10% of the blocks in the third year, 20% of the blocks in the fourth year and 30% of the blocks in the fifth year," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in Delhi.

EGom decides on roll-out obligations for telecom cos - India - DNA

 

[Xen]

1.3 times base price recommended for GSM airwaves in 1800 MHz band​

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A high-powered ministerial panel tasked with finalising rules for upcoming mobile spectrum auctions has recommended that the minimum price for CDMA airwaves in the 800 MHz band be fixed at 1.3 times the base price for GSM airwaves in the 1800 MHz band.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram, in its last meeting on Friday, rejected the telecom department's suggestion that reserve price in the 800 MHz band for CDMA players be twice as that of airwaves in the 1800 MHz band, according to the minutes of the this meeting.

Sector regulator Trai had initially recommended that the reserve price for CDMA spectrum in the 800 MHz band be fixed at twice that for GSM, implying that the minimum price for one unit of pan-India airwaves in this band should be at Rs 7244 crore. But Trai later revised this suggested that it be cut from twice to 1.3 times the base price recommended for GSM airwaves in the 1800 MHz band.


1.3 times base price recommended for GSM airwaves in 1800 MHz band - The Economic Times