After the poor response to last month's 2G spectrum sale, a ministerial panel on telecom on Friday decided to lower the base price by 30 per cent for radiowaves in the 1,800 Mhz band in four circles, which attracted no bidders, for fresh auction this fiscal. These four circles — Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan — were some of the most expensive circles in last month's 2G spectrum auction. 'The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) has decided to reduce the reserve price by 30 per cent in the four circles in the 1,800 MHz band where the spectrum remained unsold,' said a top source.
The reserve price for last month's sale per block in Delhi was Rs 693.06 crore while the figures for Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan were fixed at Rs 678.45 crore, Rs 330.12 crore and Rs 67.08 crore respectively.
The EGoM also decided to auction spectrum in the 900 MHz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata simultaneously with the sale of radiowaves in 1,800 Mhz. 'The EGoM met on Friday and we have decided to auction the 1,800 MHz band in four circles — Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan — and 900 MHz band in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here.
He added that a decision on the pricing has been taken and 'we will now be moving the Cabinet for its approval on the pricing. We have also decided that we will complete the auction process within this financial year.' Sibal said that no decision has been taken on the auction of airwaves in the 800 Mhz band. The much-hyped 2G mobile phone spectrum auction was virtually a flop as the government managed to garner bids worth just Rs 9,407 crore as against a minimum target of Rs 28,000 crore.
Compared to the 3G auction, which lasted 35 days and got Rs 67,719 crore, the latest round of 2G spectrum auctions held in November lasted just two days.
TELCOS’ TOTAL FY11 REVENUE WAS RS 1.62 LAKH CRORE
Telecom operators in the country garnered revenues of over Rs 1.62 lakh crore in fiscal 2010-11, with private players accounting for more than 79 per cent of the share, the government revealed on Friday. 'The gross revenue of telecom service providers (including NLD/ ILD and ISP stood at Rs 1,62,918.90 crore in 2010-11, of which Rs 1,29,289.33 crore was private operators' share,' Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Milind Deora said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
The remaining Rs 33,629.57 crore was the share of the public sector players, he added. The revenues of telecom players has grown from Rs 87,646.59 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 1,02,484 crore (2006-07), Rs 1,24,654.84 crore (2007-08), Rs 1,50,159.85 crore (2008-09) and Rs 1,47,576.84 crore in 2009-10, he added. However, the market share of PSUs has fallen from 52.9 per cent (as on March 31, 2005) to 13.7 per cent as on March 31, 2012. The share of private operators has grown from 47.1 per cent as on March 31, 2005 to 86.3 per cent as on March 31, 2012. The country's telecom subscriber base has grown from 98.41 million (as on March 31, 2005) to 951.34 million subscribers as on March 31, 2012. In the same period, the country's overall tele-density (number of telephones per 100) grew from 9.08 to 73.97.
The reserve price for last month's sale per block in Delhi was Rs 693.06 crore while the figures for Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan were fixed at Rs 678.45 crore, Rs 330.12 crore and Rs 67.08 crore respectively.
The EGoM also decided to auction spectrum in the 900 MHz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata simultaneously with the sale of radiowaves in 1,800 Mhz. 'The EGoM met on Friday and we have decided to auction the 1,800 MHz band in four circles — Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan — and 900 MHz band in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here.
He added that a decision on the pricing has been taken and 'we will now be moving the Cabinet for its approval on the pricing. We have also decided that we will complete the auction process within this financial year.' Sibal said that no decision has been taken on the auction of airwaves in the 800 Mhz band. The much-hyped 2G mobile phone spectrum auction was virtually a flop as the government managed to garner bids worth just Rs 9,407 crore as against a minimum target of Rs 28,000 crore.
Compared to the 3G auction, which lasted 35 days and got Rs 67,719 crore, the latest round of 2G spectrum auctions held in November lasted just two days.
TELCOS’ TOTAL FY11 REVENUE WAS RS 1.62 LAKH CRORE
Telecom operators in the country garnered revenues of over Rs 1.62 lakh crore in fiscal 2010-11, with private players accounting for more than 79 per cent of the share, the government revealed on Friday. 'The gross revenue of telecom service providers (including NLD/ ILD and ISP stood at Rs 1,62,918.90 crore in 2010-11, of which Rs 1,29,289.33 crore was private operators' share,' Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Milind Deora said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
The remaining Rs 33,629.57 crore was the share of the public sector players, he added. The revenues of telecom players has grown from Rs 87,646.59 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 1,02,484 crore (2006-07), Rs 1,24,654.84 crore (2007-08), Rs 1,50,159.85 crore (2008-09) and Rs 1,47,576.84 crore in 2009-10, he added. However, the market share of PSUs has fallen from 52.9 per cent (as on March 31, 2005) to 13.7 per cent as on March 31, 2012. The share of private operators has grown from 47.1 per cent as on March 31, 2005 to 86.3 per cent as on March 31, 2012. The country's telecom subscriber base has grown from 98.41 million (as on March 31, 2005) to 951.34 million subscribers as on March 31, 2012. In the same period, the country's overall tele-density (number of telephones per 100) grew from 9.08 to 73.97.