Indian Telecom Spectrum Auction

In India, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) conducts auctions of licenses for electromagnetic spectrum. India was among the early adopters of spectrum auctions beginning auctions in 1991. Despite the early start, services were slow to roll out caused by unforeseen problems with the design and rules of the auction.^[1] Potential service providers were required to seek foreign partners, as the DoT felt that no Indian company alone had the financial means to enter the industry. Bidding for all licenses required a two-stage screening process.

2010 Spectrum Auction

In 2010, 3G and 4G telecom spectrum were auctioned in a highly competitive bidding. The winners were awarded spectrum in September, and Tata Docomo was the first private operator to launch 3G services in India.^[2] The Government earned ₹677 billion (equivalent to ₹910 billion or US$13 billion in 2016) from the 3G spectrum auction and the broadband wireless spectrum auction generated a revenue of ₹385 billion (equivalent to ₹520 billion or US$7.6 billion in 2016) for a total revenue of ₹1062 billion (equivalent to ₹1.4 trillion or US$21 billion in 2016) from both auctions.

Participants

The private companies which participated in the auction were:

• Airtel
• Aircel
• Idea
• Reliance Communications
• S Tel
• Tata Teleservices
• Vodafone Essar

State-owned telecom companies BSNL and MTNL were also awarded spectrum, although they did not participate in the auction.^[3] BSNL paid the Indian government ₹ ₹101.87 billion (equivalent to ₹140 billion or US$2.0 billion in 2016) for spectrum in 20 circles and MTNL got spectrum for 3G services in 2 circles, Delhi and Mumbai.^[4]

Results

The auction took place over 34 days and consisted of 183 rounds of bidding. The most expensive telecom circle was Delhi at a price of ₹ 33169 million per operator. The five most expensive circles were Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. They accounted for 65.56% of the total bids.^[4][5]

Circle	Vodafone	Bharti Airtel	Reliance	Tata DoCoMo	Idea	Aircel	S Tel	BSNL	MTNL	Total
Andhra Pradesh	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	4
Assam	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	4
Bihar	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	5
Delhi	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y	4
Gujarat	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	4
Haryana	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	4
Himachal Pradesh	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	5
Jammu & Kashmir	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	5
Karnataka	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N	4
Kerala	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	4
Kolkata	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	4
Madhya Pradesh	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	4
Maharashtra & Goa	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	4
Mumbai	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y	4
North East	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	4
Orissa	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	4
Punjab	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	5
Rajasthan	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	4
Tamil Nadu	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	4
Uttar Pradesh (East)	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	4
Uttar Pradesh (West)	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	4
West Bengal	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	5
Total (22)	9	13	13	9	11	13	3	20	2	93

2012 Spectrum Auction

In 2012, the DoT auctioned 2G spectrum in both GSM and CDMA bands. The government put on sale 271.25 MHz of spectrum.^[6] The 1800 MHz band and 800 MHz band are currently being used for GSM and CDMA services respectively. Eleven blocks having 1.25 MHz each in the 1800 MHz frequency band were auctioned, except in Mumbai and Delhi where only eight blocks were available. Three of the eleven blocks, in each circle, were reserved for new telecom players or operators whose licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court on 2 February 2012, following the 2G spectrum scam. New players and companies affected by the Supreme Court verdict will have to win at least 4 blocks in each circle to start or continue their operations in that circle. Existing players whose licences were not affected by the Supreme Court verdict can bid for only 2 blocks in each circle. This applies to all circles of Airtel and Vodafone, and in some circles for Idea.^[7]

Three blocks of 1.25 MHz frequency each in the 800 MHz band were also available for auction.^[8] Initially, only Videocon Telecommunications Limited and Tata Teleservices (Tata DoCoMo CDMA) had applied to participate in the auction for spectrum in 800 MHz band (CDMA). Both companies withdrew their applications before 5 November, the last date for withdrawal of applications. Videocon was announced as a pre-qualifier in the bidding process by the DoT on 29 October, but withdrew its application on 2 November.^[9] Tata Teleservices was also announced as a pre-qualifier on 29 October, but withdrew its bid later. The withdrawals meant that there were no bidders left and the CDMA spectrum auction was subsequently cancelled.^[10]

The final list of bidders was announced on 6 November. This was followed by a mock auction on 7 and 8 November and the e-auction of 1,800 MHz band began on 12 November.^[11]

Participants

The companies which participated in the auction for spectrum in 1800 MHz band (GSM) were:

• Airtel
• Idea
• Vodafone
• Videocon
• Telewings

Results

The auction took place over 2 days (starting 12 November and ending 14 November) and consisted of 14 rounds. The government received bids worth a total of ₹94.07 billion (US$1.4 billion), far lower than its target of ₹ 280 billion. No one bid on the India-wide spectrum, which had a reserve price of Rs 140 billion.^[12] Bids were tendered on 102 of the 140 blocks being offered. Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan circles did not receive any bids. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal said of the unsold spectrum, "Of course there will be an auction. There is no doubt about that. What procedure we follow for that auction is something that we will decide in another few weeks."^[13][14]

Circle / Operator	Vodafone	Airtel	Uninor	Idea	Videocon
Assam	Y	Y	N	Y	N
Andhra Pradesh	N	N	Y	N	N
Bihar	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
Delhi	No bid
Gujarat	N	N	Y	N	Y
Haryana	Y	N	N	N	Y
Himachal Pradesh	Y	N	N	N	N
Jammu & Kashmir	Y	N	N	Y	N
Karnataka	No bid
Kerala	Y	N	N	N	N
Kolkata	N	N	N	Y	N
Madhya Pradesh	Y	N	N	N	Y
Maharashtra & Goa	Y	N	Y	N	N
Mumbai	No bid
Punjab	Y	N	N	N	N
North East	Y	N	N	Y	N
Orissa	Y	N	N	Y	N
Rajasthan	No bid
Tamil Nadu	N	N	N	Y	N
Uttar Pradesh (East)	Y	N	Y	N	Y
Uttar Pradesh (West)	Y	N	Y	N	Y
West Bengal	Y	N	N	Y	N
No. of Circles	14	1	6	8	6
Total Amount (₹ crores)	1,127.94	8.67	4,018	2,031	2,221

2013 Spectrum Auction

In the 2013 spectrum auction, the Government planned to auction 50 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 MHz band and 76.25 MHz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band.^[15] The Government put CDMA spectrum worth ₹64 billion (US$940 million) up for auction^[16][17] and fixed the price of 900 MHz, two times higher than 1800 MHz.^[18] DoT issued notice inviting applications for spectrum auction on 30 January 2013, and the last date for submitting an application was 25 February 2013.^[19] The auction for all three bands was planned to begin on 11 March 2013. However, no bidders expressed interest in the 1800 MHz and 900 MHz bands and as a result, the auction for those bands was postponed indefinitely. The auction for spectrum in 800 MHz band proceeded as planned on 11 March.^[20]

No companies tendered bids for spectrum in 1800 MHz and 900 MHz bands, and MTS India was the only bidder in the 800 MHz band.^[21] Vodafone Group's CEO Vittorio Colao stated, "The problem is that in India there is a misperception of what is the value of spectrum. The reserve prices are set too high. India has very low prices and very low revenues so we cannot afford to pay high price for spectrum. We have told them [Indian government] a number of times that the order of magnitude that they have in mind just does not make sense".^[18]

Participants

The sole bidder in the auction was Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL), under the brand name MTS, who bid for spectrum in the 800 MHz band.

Results

The auction was held on 11 March and lasted little over 4 hours.^[22] Auction rounds were scheduled to begin between 0900 hrs and 1900 hrs IST.^[16] The table shows the prices per block for each of the 11 telecom circles in which spectrum was put up for auction. The participant in the auction, MTS, won spectrum in 8 circles and did not bid for 3 circles. No spectrum was put up for auction in the remaining circles of India.^[23]

2014 Spectrum Auction

In 2014, the Dot auctioned 2G telecom spectrum in the frequency range of 900Mhz and 1800 MHz. The winners were awarded spectrum in February. The Government earned ₹612 billion (US$9.0 billion) from the spectrum auction. The 1800 MHz spectrum auctioned were cancelled by the Supreme Court, following the 2G spectrum scam. The government put on sale 307.2 MHz of 1800 and 46 MHz of 900 MHz-wide spectrum. The licences are valid for 20 years. Vodafone and Bharti were already using 900 MHz frequency and had to renew before their license expire in November 2014. Reliance Jio, the only company to have all-India 4G license entered into voice service and won in 14 circles in 1800 MHz frequency.^[24] Companies also plan to provide 3G and 4G services on the spectrum.^[25]

Participants

The private companies which participated in the auction were:

• Airtel
• Vodafone India
• Idea
• Aircel
• Reliance Communications
• Reliance Jio
• Tata Teleservices
• Telewings

Results

The auction took place over 10 days and consisted of 68 rounds of bidding. The most expensive telecom circle in both 900 & 1800 MHz frequencies^[26] was Delhi at a price of ₹ 7409.6 million and ₹ 728 million per operator. Delhi and Mumbai together accounted for 57% of the total bids.^[27][28]

900 MHz

Circle / Operator	Vodafone	Airtel	Idea	Total
Delhi	Y	Y	Y	3
Kolkata	Y	Y	N	2
Mumbai	Y	Y	N	2
Total	3	3	1	7

1800 MHz

Circle / Operator	Vodafone	Airtel	Rel Jio	Idea	Aircel	Uninor	RCom	Tata	Total
Andhra Pradesh	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	5
Assam	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	2
Bihar	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	1
Delhi	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	4
Gujarat	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	3
Haryana	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	2
Himachal Pradesh	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	1
Jammu & Kashmir	N	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	N	2
Karnataka	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	4
Kerala	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	4
Kolkata	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	3
Madhya Pradesh	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	3
Maharashtra & Goa	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	2
Mumbai	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	5
North East	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	4
Orissa	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	2
Punjab	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	N	N	3
Rajasthan	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	N	3
Tamil Nadu	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	2
Uttar Pradesh (East)	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	3
Uttar Pradesh (West)	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	1
West Bengal	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	N	3
Total	11	15	14	11	5	5	1	0	62

2015 spectrum auction

The 2015 spectrum auction concluded on March 25, after 19 days and 115 rounds of bidding.^[29] Spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands was auctioned. The Government accrued a total of ₹109874 crore (US$16 billion)^[30] from the auction. Approximately, 11% of the spectrum available for auction remained unsold.^[31]

Participants

The private companies which participated in the auction were:

• Airtel
• Vodafone India
• Idea
• Reliance Jio
• Reliance Communications
• Aircel
• Tata Docomo
• Uninor

References