EGoM to meet again Monday over telecom auction

An Empowered Group of Ministers looking into the auction of telecom spectrum will meet again on Monday after meeting that lasted over two hours yesterday failed produced any decision.

According to telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal the panel of ministers headed by finance minister P Chidambaram, looked into several aspects related to the auction of 2G mobile spectrum and then decided to meet again.

The development has lessened chances of fresh auctions being held before 18 January, the extended deadline for mobile phone operators whose licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court last February.

The Economic Times quoted an official familiar with the development as saying that the government may not be able to hold fresh auctions in the 1800 and 900 MHz bands prior to 18 January but would do so before end-March.

Sistema Shyam Teleservices would take the maximum impact if the auction was delayed as it did not buy back spectrum in the November auction in 1800 MHz band, and, therefore, would not be able to continue operations. Others including Telenor, Idea Cellular and Videocon, whose licenses too stood cancelled, bought back spectrum at the auction.

The November auction proved to be a failure as the government could net only Rs 9,400 crore against a target of Rs 40,000 crore and there were no takers for key circles such as Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan. According to industry players, the reserve price of Rs14,000 crore for 5 MHz of pan-India spectrum was too high.