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State-owned operator has tentative plans for 4G network upgrade next year, but will not bid in multi-band spectrum sale, government says.
BSNL this week became the latest Indian telecoms operator to decline to take part in the country’s forthcoming mobile spectrum auction.
The state-owned operator said it will not bid in the auction for financial and other reasons, according to India’s new telecoms minister Manoj Sinha, the Press Trust of India reported on Thursday.
The cost of the spectrum to be auctioned off has become a major talking point in the industry in recent months.
The state has set a reserve price of 5.44 trillion rupees (€71 billion) for all the available spectrum across the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands. However, analysts expect the final sum raised in the process to be significantly lower, and a number of operators have indicated that they will not bid, or will take a measured approach to the sale.
The cabinet this week approved the spectrum usage charges that will be levied on operators, potentially clearing the way for the auction to take place in September.
Telenor, which is considering its future in the Indian mobile market, last month said it will not take part in the auction since the prices set would not allow it to generate an acceptable level of return.
Meanwhile, market leader Bharti Airtel, which accounted for 27% of the INR1.099 trillion total spend in last year’s spectrum sale, has suggested that it will bid selectively in the auction. Speaking on the telco’s second-quarter results call, its India and South Asia CEO Gopal Vittal said Bharti does not have a great requirement for additional spectrum at present and only needs "to fill [a] few gaps here and there." In the past few months, Bharti has acquired spectrum from smaller rivals Videocon and Aircel.
BSNL’s sister company MTNL, which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, has yet to make a decision regarding participation in the auction, the PTI report quoted Sinha as saying.
The minister also said that BSNL has informed the government that it plans to tender for a network upgrade to 4G with a view to possibly launching services during the next financial year, beginning in spring 2017.
MTNL has no immediate plans for a 4G launch, he added.
