India’s telecom department has given its ‘in principle’ nod to state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. to surrender the broadband wireless access spectrum allotted to it.
BSNL had acquired BWA spectrum licenses in the 2.5-2.6 GHz band in 22 service areas for $1.6 billion. The company now wants to surrender the spectrum in 17 circles: Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (East), Assam, North East, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Kolkata, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh (West), Orissa and Tamil Nadu.
The operator has sought a refund of the $1.57 billion it paid the government to acquire the spectrum for those 17 circles. It also told India’s Department of Telecom that it will surrender the spectrum for the Haryana circle once its legal dispute in that circle has been resolved.
One slot of the surrendered spectrum is likely to be auctioned on pan-India basis after getting back airwaves from BSNL, The Economic Times reported.
“After taking BWA spectrum from the BSNL, the government will have airwaves on pan-India basis as the department is already having the spectrum in several circles. So, the government will auction it and whatever amount they get, BSNL is likely to get back around 80-90% of what it had paid last year, about 6,700 crore (U.S. $1.27 billion),” the newspaper quoted sources as saying.
The company has said it wants to return the spectrum as it was allotted a nonstandardized band for the introduction of BWA services in the country. The private operators had no such issues. This would mean higher costs for BSNL, giving private operators a cost advantage.
