Telenor hopes for further reduction in spectrum prices
25 Jan 2013
Norwegian telecom firm Telenor is hoping for a further reduction in the start spectrum prices, when the airwaves come up for the second round of auction in March.
"The government has been giving right signals to industry leaders. We are hopeful that the pricing issues would be resolved and we will wait for March. But as the indications stand, the reserve price is likely to be brought down," Telenor's president and CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said.
Baksaas, who was in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum, said Telenor would bring pricing issue to "the attention of decision makers". He, however, refused to elaborate.
The government is expected to kick off the second round of spectrum auction on 11 March.
The government has cut the reserve price for spectrum auction by 30 per cent, following a lack in interest from telecom operators.
The company lost its licences after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 2G licences issued after January 2008 on grounds they were issued in a ''totally arbitrary and unconstitutional'' manner. The Supreme Court order came in February 2012.