Indian telecom service provider MTS has demanded a lower price for CDMA band of 800 MHz, saying high spectrum price is against the growth of the telecom sector.
As per the pan-India spectrum price approved by the inter-ministerial Telecom Commission, MTS India (Sistema Shyam Teleservices) needs to cough up Rs 3,646 crore per MHz against TRAI’s suggested price of Rs 3,104 crore for the CDMA band of 800 MHz.
MTS India, which has already invested $3.5 billion India, is the only telecom operator which is looking for expansion in the CDMA technology. Both Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices, two CDMA players, are expanding their GSM services across the country.
Huge base price for spectrum indicates that MTS India may not participate in the next round of auction, reflecting that the Russian telecom subsidiary may continue as a regional operator in the country. MTS India and several other telecom operators reduced their telecom exposure after the 2012 Supreme Court order on 2G spectrum controversy.
Spectrum auction: Telecom Commission approves higher base price
The price for the 900MHz band and the 800 MHz are almost similar.
The pan-India reserve price for the 900MHz band will be Rs 3,693 crore per (MHz) against Rs 3,004 crore recommended by TRAI, while the 1,800MHz band will cost Rs 2,191 crore against TRAI’s Rs 2,138 crore.
The India government will auction 800 MHz band of spectrum in 11 telecom service areas.
“This is way out of line and does not merit a strong business case for buying additional spectrum. If such policy framework is implemented then naturally it would be detrimental both for the telecom sector and also to the $3.5-billion investment already made by SSTL in its operations in India,” said Mikhail Shamolin, global president & CEO of Sistema JSFC, in an interview with Times of India.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
