Telecom service provider MTS India (Sistema Shyam Teleservices) is keen to expand its presence to 22 circles from the present 9, if CDMA spectrum is available at the right price, said its CEO Dmitry Shukov. MTS will miss the 3 February spectrum auction as the government is yet to finalize spectrum price for 800 MHz band.
Last year, MTS India, a joint venture of Russian conglomerate Sistema, reduced its presence to nine telecom circles and lost considerable mobile subscriber base to rivals such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, etc.
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MTS India has also failed to finalize a merger deal after discussion with Tata Docomo, Uninor, Aircel, etc.
PTI today reported that MTS India would expand its presence across the country if the price of CDMA spectrum is fixed based on the methodology used for determining the rate for GSM airwaves.
MTS has the network. It needs spectrum to launch services.
You may read: MTS India comments to TRAI on 800 MHz spectrum auction
If the February 3 spectrum auction, which will be attended by eight telecom operators, is successful, it will be a blow to MTS India. Additional spectrum will enable its rivals to offer improved coverage to mobile customers.
“The auction for 800 Mhz needs to happen as soon as possible. We will be stuck with 3.75 Mhz while everyone else will race away with extra spectrum. We need additional spectrum to increase our data speed and make data services attractive for our customers,” Shukov said.
Despite increasing pressure from MTS India, TRAI (The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) is working to determine CDMA spectrum base price for auctions after repeated requests from the government.
The regulator had recommended against auctioning these airwaves in September but suggested sale of two sets of GSM airwaves, 1800 Mhz band and 900 Mhz band, at a lower price compared to reserve price fixed in the March 2013 auction, PTI reported.
It suggested a pan-India reserve price of Rs 1,496 crore per MHz in the 1800 band, down 37 per cent from the base price set in the previous auction. For 900 MHz band, TRAI recommended a reserve price that was up to 62 per cent lower than the reserve price fixed in March.
SSTL has demanded that regulator use a similar ratio for determining price of CDMA airwaves as was the case for March 2013 auction.
“Last reserve price for 800 Mhz spectrum was only 0.65 times the reserve price for 1800 Mhz band in most circles. It is our belief and expectation that this ratio should be retained,” Shukov said.
