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Separate spectrum fee for 2G entrants (The Ecoomic Times 14th Dec 2007) The government is set to fix a one-time entry fee for all new players who plan to offer second-generation (2G) mobile services in the country. This start-up fee, which is expected to run into a few thousand crores, will be besides the Rs 1,651 crore that all entrants have to pay for a pan-India 2G spectrum licence. Finance Ministry objects to dual tech mobile licences (The Hindu Business Line 14th Dec 2007) The Union Finance Ministry has written to the Department of Telecommunications asking it to “stay” the implementation of the grant of crossover licences for CDMA operators to commence GSM operations. The November 22 letter written by Mr D. Subbarao, Finance Secretary, to Mr D.S. Mathur, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, states that in the presentation on the spectrum policy to the Cabinet Secretary on November 20, Mr Mathur had mentioned that three CDMA operators were given crossover licence for GS...

How pooling can unlock value for telcos (The Hindu Business Line 13th Dec 2007) The coming together of Bharti Infratel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular to form an independent tower company called Indus Towers, is a logical way forward for passive infrastructure sharing by cellular operators, in a scenario of falling ... More PM wants transparency in spectrum allocation (The Hindu Business Line 13th Dec 2007) The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has said that the spectrum policy should be fair, transparent, equitable and one that does not lose sight of the revenue earning potential to the Government. Addressing the inaugural session of the Telecom India Summit 2007 here on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said, “The policy regime for making spectrum available should be fair, and forward looking. It should not create entry barriers to newcomers or barriers to the continued growth of the sector. At the same time, the revenue potential to the government must not be lost sight of. In the final...

Nokia expanding focus, to offer Net services here (The Hindu Business Line 12 th Dec 2007)In a bid to capitalise on the booming mobile value-added services market, handset manufacturer Nokia is planning to expand its focus from mobile devices to offer a range of Internet-based services in India early next year. The company is all set to bring its services arm — Ovi — which was launched globally in August. I dea offers Rs 1,650 cr for additional spectrum (The Economic Times12th Dec 2007)A day after Bharti Airtel raised the stakes in the battle for spectrum by offering to pay Rs 2,650 crore for 4.4 MHz of pan-India GSM spectrum, Idea Cellular also joined the fray by offering to pay Rs 1,650 crore for the same amount of spectrum across the country. Idea Cellular’s managing director Sanjeev Aga, in a communication to Department of Telecom secretary D S Mathur, said the company was willing to match RCOM’s payment of 1,650 crore, while adding that Idea would to pay a higher amount in the e...

Bharti offers Rs 2,650 cr for pan-India GSM spectrum (The Hindu Business Line 11th Dec 2007) With the Ministry of Communications in no mood to relax the subscriber-linked spectrum allocation criteria any further, GSM operator Bharti Airtel on Monday fired a fresh salvo and told the Government that it was willing to participate in an auction. The company has offered Rs 2,650 crore as the initial bid amount for 4.4 Mhz of pan-India GSM spectrum. This amount is Rs 1,000 crore higher than what the Government has asked Reliance Communication to pay for country-wide GSM licence. Industry sources indicated that other GSM operators and new players in favour of auction may put in counter bids over the next few days, which could force the Government to take a re-look at the option to auction spectrum instead of allocating it based on the number of subscribers. Ericsson declines Nokia portion in BSNL deal (The Hindu Business Line 11th Dec 2007) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s controversial GSM proje...