The Indian Department of Telecom (DoT) has put out the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) for auction of seven spectrum bands starting from 29th September 2016. The spectrum bands include 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz and 2500MHz constituting a total of 2356 MHz spectrum with the largest chunk in the 700MHz band. This auction is the Largest ever Telecom Spectrum auction till date in terms of quantity, quality and price of spectrum being put on
telecom-spectrum
Is Idea Cellular Challenged with 3G /4G-LTE Data Spectrum ?
The just in time execution telecom specialist in India Idea Cellular owns 3G spectrum (900 or 2100 or both) in all of its top-5 circles and nine of its top-10 circles (except Karnataka, where it owns LTE spectrum). Idea owns LTE spectrum (1800 band) in four of its top-5 and six of its top-10 circles. It owns either 3G or LTE spectrum in all of its top-10 circles and owns 3G and LTE spectrum in five of the top-10 circles. Idea’s 3G spectrum footprint covers nearly 80% of its revenues, LTE footprint covers 61%, 3G or LTE footprint covers 87% and 3G and LTE footprint covers 53% of its revenues.
Having spectrum is important of course
Why Airtel / Vodafone / Idea Won’t Overbid in 2015 Mega Spectrum Auction ?
8 operators have submitted applications to participate in the bidding for the 2015 Mega Telecom Spectrum Auction. Reliance Jio is the surprise entrant with highest earnest money deposit (EMD) thus creating the fears of aggressive bidding. Idea cellular will be the most vulnerable if Reliance focuses on winning the 900MHz band Idea doesn’t have enough fire power to bid up if the process turns aggressive as the capability is limited by the EMD paid and may have to take an alternative path to the 2100 Mhz spectrum.
Why will Airtel / Vodafone and Idea Cellular Avoid Overbidding ?
I will renew my 900 MHz renewal spectrum at any cost
Wireless Spectrum Sharing Negative for Reliance Jio
TRAI has released Spectrum Sharing guidelines for Wireless Operators in India. The recommendation to not permit spectrum leasing (at this stage) should be a dampener to challengers [New Entrants like Reliance Jio Infocomm, Uninor, etc] looking to monetize their underutilized spectrum holdings.
Spectrum sharing, as recommended by the TRAI, is unlikely to help challengers meaningfully. 2G ICR arrangements anyway have been around and help the challengers share networks from a coverage standpoint. Spectrum sharing, as highlighted earlier, is a capacity enhancing measure and hence, would aid capacity-constrained incumbents at the
Idea + Vodafone Go OverBoard to Acquire 900Mhz Spectrum in Metros
The 1800MHz and 900Mz auctions finally concluded yesterday with incumbents stealing the show with mega spectrum wins across the country. Airtel, Idea and Vodafone that have immensely strengthened their data arsenal. While the bidding seems to be stressing the valuation for the telecom companies but we believe the auctions have clearly demonstrated the direction for further consolidation in the industry. We strongly believe that the significant acquisition
Reliance Jio Infocomm 1800MHz Spectrum Win Confirms Takeover of Videocon Telecom
The 1800Mhz Spectrum Auction comes to an end with Reliance Jio Infocomm winning 14 out of the 22 Circles. R-Jio has won 5MHz-7MHz of 1800MHz spectrum in 14 circles for a total investment of ~Rs111bn. We believe it would look to complete the pan-India footprint in 1800MHz (to be used for 2G voice) through acquisition Videocon Telecom.
The Circles where Reliance Jio has bid and won the Spectrum complement the circles where Mukesh Ambani backed Videocon Telecom has already secured
Telecom Spectrum auction is getting competitive
The ongoing spectrum auction has become competitive for the 900Mhz band spectrum, which is on offer in the three metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta). The incumbents currently hold spectrum primarily in 900Mhz band and would lose access in Nov 2014 if they fail to win it back in the auction.
In the 900MHz band, cumulatively Mumbai has witnessed the highest price escalation of ~72% over the reserve price. Delhi/ Kolkata have recorded 59%/ 54% appreciation in bid price over the three days. 900MHz price for all three metros are in the range of 2.6-2.7x 1800MHz prices for these circles.
Delhi will witness heated Auction of Spectrum from Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Uninor & Videocon
A steep cut in Delhi Circle’s reserve price makes it an attractive circle for new licensees. Our framework for new licensees suggests NPV remains positive till 50% higher spectrum prices. IDEA without 3G spectrum could be an aggressive bidder in Delhi. Spectrum prices may rise more than 50%, if incumbents want to deny IDEA 3G spectrum in Delhi.
A significantly lower reserve price compared to the market size, indicated by the high industry revenue / reserve price for the 1,800MHz and 900MHz bands.
800MHz Spectrum Auction Imminent
TRAI has issued a consultation paper on setting the reserve price for auction of spectrum in the 800MHz band. This is after the DoT expressed its intention to auction this spectrum along with 900MHz and 1,800MHz, given the government’s focus on fiscal consolidation and revenue loss in case of non-auction of 800MHz spectrum.
TRAI had earlier suggested to DoT to explore alternate usage of this spectrum band and to consider adoption of E-GSM (Extended-Global System for Mobile), given the falling popularity of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology (800MHz is used by CDMA operators) and the fact that the CDMA subscriber base
Affordable & Enough 2G /3G /4G Spectrum Auction in 2014 for Voice & Data
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has released Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for spectrum auctions in the 900MHz & 1800MHz bands to be conducted in January 2014. Analysis of the NIA reveals that the quantum of spectrum to be auctioned in the 1800MHz band is much higher than market expectations. Additionally, in most circles, large tracts of liberalized contiguous spectrum are available in the 1800MHz band, implying that operators will have greater choice for building their data arsenal in addition to 2G Voice Services.
1,800 MHz spectrum will be auctioned in all 22 circles. The quantum of spectrum varies from as low as 2.4 MHz (paired) in UP (West) to as high as 30.2 MHz in the Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) circle. 1,800 spectrum being put up for auction includes the current 1,800 spectrum holdings of