Videocon Telecom to bid for 900MHz in Delhi

Videocon Telecommunications chief executive Arvind Bali has said the company is evaluating the possibilities of bidding for 900MHz telecom spectrum in the Delhi circle, the most expensive circle by reserve price.

On Friday, an empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram had fixed the base price of one MHz of spectrum in the 900MHz band in the Delhi telecom circle at Rs 359.65 crore. For Mumbai, the price was fixed at Rs 327.5 crore for one MHz. It is expected the government will auction 900MHz spectrum in January next year, without allowing a reservation for existing licence holders, whose permits will be due for renewal in November 2014.

“We are yet to take a decision on how much spectrum we will bid for. The Delhi circle makes a lucrative business case and fits our strategic framework completely,” Bali said. The Department of Telecommunications will auction 900MHz spectrum in blocks of one MHz each. An operator can bid for at least five blocks in a circle.

Earlier, Videocon Telecommunications had said it had appointed Deloitte as a consultant to suggest a course of action for the coming auctions.

Spectrum in the 900MHz band is at least 1.5 times more efficient than the 1,800MHz band GSM operators currently use. “We have no plans to expand in any other circle with 1,800MHz spectrum. So, we will not look at bidding for 1,800MHz. But we may explore options for the Rajasthan circle,” Bali said. The company had earlier said initially, it would restrict its presence to the northern region and might look to expand pan-India at a later stage.

In November 2012, Videocon had bought spectrum in six circles — Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West) — in the 1,800MHz band for Rs 2,221 crore.

Earlier, the Venugopal Dhoot-led Videocon group had invested about Rs 10,000 crore in developing infrastructure to offer 2G services. The company’s pan-India operating permit was quashed following a Supreme Court order that cancelled 122 telecom licences.