Telecom spectrum News

Govt has approved refarming of 687 megahertz spectrum for telecom industry, a move hailed by the industries bodies for faster rollout of better 5G services across the country and prepare for the 6G era.   

The government's proposal to auction spectrum every year has got a backer in Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, who however has said there is no need for sale of airwaves in coming fiscal.

The government is looking at making spectrum auction an annual event and will reach out to sectoral regulator Trai for its recommendations, Telecom Secretary JS Deepak on Tuesday said.

Tax collected under the country's biggest black money disclosure will help cushion revenue shortfall from the sale of telecom spectrum and help manage the fiscal situation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday.

Leading operators, including Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel, are in the fray for frequencies that are crucial for next-generation telecom services.

India`s biggest auction of telecom spectrum kicks off on Saturday with seven operators in fray for a total of 2,354.55 MHz across seven bands, towards which a reserve price of Rs 5.66 lakh crore ($85 billion) has been fixed by the government.

The Union Cabinet has cleared liberalisation of spectrum - allocated without auction to telecom companies - at Trai recommended price with the balance being collected after deriving market rate through bidding.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the modifications in the policy for liberalisation of administratively allotted spectrum where market determined prices were not available.

India's biggest mobile phone operator, Bharti Airtel will acquire Videocon Telecom's 1,800 MHz spectrum for Rs 4,428 crore.

India`s third-biggest mobile phone operator, Idea Cellular Ltd , said it has called off its plan to buy telecom spectrum worth Rs 33.10 billion (USD 493 million) from smaller rival Videocon Telecommunications.  

The government is believed to have met the fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of GDP for 2014-15, helped by last minute payment of Rs 10,808 crore by telecom companies for spectrum and tax receipts in March

There is a lot of load on telecom operators due to spectrum payment.

The Supreme Court on Thursday lifted its embargo and allowed the government to finalise the result of the just-concluded biggest and "fiercest" auction for telecom spectrum, fetching a whopping revenue of Rs 1.09 lakh crore.

The Supreme Court has allowed the government to conclude the auction of telecom airwaves and collect initial payments from operators.

Government raised a record Rs 109,874 crore in the country's biggest and the fiercest auction of telecom spectrum.

Government raised a record Rs 109,874 crore in the country's biggest and the fiercest auction of telecom spectrum that ended Wednesday, triggering fears of hike in call and data rates.

The government has garnered about Rs 1.10 lakh crore from the telecom spectrum auction after 19 days and 115 rounds of fierce bidding among eight operators.

Government's kitty from the telecom spectrum auction on Tuesday rose to Rs 1.09 lakh crore with the provisional allocation of 89 percent radiowaves made at the end of the 18th day.

The government's telecom spectrum auction kitty on Friday declined to Rs 1.05 lakh crore with provisional allocation of 88 percent airwaves at the end of day 15.

Some analysts have been saying that competitive pressures, especially the entry of Reliance Jio, would ensure that there would be minimum tariff hike.