Aditya Birla Group company Idea Cellular has filed an affidavit with the
Supreme Court saying that any reduction in the reserve price for unsold
spectrum should also be applicable to winners of the recently concluded
auction.
“In the event further quashed/unsold spectrum from current auction is
made available/put up for auction in the 1,800 Mhz band and any decision
is made which results in a reduction in the reserve price or the final
winning price, the petitioner (Idea Cellular) should be entitled to the
benefit of the same,” the affidavit filed by the mobile company said.
Idea Cellular had won spectrum in seven circles by paying Rs 2,031 crore
at the recently concluded auction. But the Government did not receive
bids for all spectrum put on the block. This has prompted the Government
to look at the possibility of holding another round of auction before
March next.
Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal recently said that the
Government will review the base price after analysts and bidders
complained that it was too high. Analysts had also criticised the
Government’s decision to sell only a part of the spectrum freed up after
cancelling 122 licences issued in 2008.
Idea Cellular had earlier filed an appeal with the apex court that the
Government was not following its (the court’s) orders by holding back
spectrum. The company said that the additional affidavit was to ensure
level playing field as it cannot be put to any commercial disadvantage
in any manner due to the Government’s non-compliance of the court’s
order.
Unsold spectrum
Meanwhile, the big three GSM operators — Airtel, Vodafone and Idea —
plan to write to the Government saying that the unsold spectrum in the
CDMA band should be combined with the 900 Mhz spectrum. The three
companies will tell the Government that all spectrum available with the
Government should be put for sale as that will allow the operators to
decide which frequency band they want to buy and which one they want to
give up.
Combining CDMA spectrum (which is in the upper part of the 800 Mhz band)
with the 900 Mhz band will enable the GSM players to get a larger chunk
at the time of re-farming.
