Eleven firms to bid for BWA
20-03-2010
Qualcomm and established majors rub shoulders with smaller firms
The Department of Telecommunications said on its website it received 11 applications from firms to participate in a separate auction for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.
Applicants for BWA auction are Aircel Ltd, Augere (Mauritius) Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd, Infotel Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, Qualcomm Inc, Reliance WiMax Ltd, Spice Internet Service Provider Pvt Ltd, Tata Communications Internet Services Ltd, Tikona Digital Networks Pvt Ltd and Vodafone Essar Ltd.
The last date for applying for both 3G and BWA spectrum was yesterday. While the 3G auction starts from April 9, the BWA auction will begin two days later. Two blocks of 2.3 MHz spectrum in each circle will be put up for the auction. The government has kept the reserve price at Rs 1,750 crore.
Major telcos Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communication were among those who applied for BWA spectrum. Other established players were Vodafone, and Tata Internet Services, owned by Tata Communications.The Tata bid was expected, and in line with TCOM's strategy of strengthening the BWA platform. It has been offering WiMax-based BWA services since 2008 using spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band under its Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence with the Indian government, and had announced a capex outlay of $500 million for three years ending FY12. TCOM thus has a headstart in acquisition of subscribers.
Qualcomm has bid for pan-India BWA spectrum.However, Qualcomm's plans to use the BWA spectrum for offering TD-LTE has not gone down well with WiMAX players (see our ealier two stories).
Among the smaller entrants was Mumbai-based Tikona Wireless, which was started by ex-Reliance employees, and is currently using a technology calles Smart Wi-Fi to give broadband to ten cities in India.
Augere is led by Sanjiv Ahuja, formerly the CEO of Orange. It raised $125 million in the first round of investment from France Telecom, New Silk Route (NSR) and Vedanta. Augere is already offering BWA using WiMax technology in Bangladesh and Pakistan. "Licences are also being actively pursued in countries across Africa, South and South East Asia" according to the company's website. "Augere will not bid for spectrum on a pan-India basis. It will be selective" an insider said earlier. If successful, Augere will have to rope in an Indian partner to comply with the foreign direct investment norms, which make 26% Indian ownership mandatory in telecom operations.
Spectrum winners who are new to the sector, will not automatically get a unified licence or ISP licence on winning the spectrum bid. They will have to procure it by paying the necessary fees. BWA spectrum would attract a charge of 1% of annualised gross revenues from BWA services.
Inputs from Economic Times
The Department of Telecommunications said on its website it received 11 applications from firms to participate in a separate auction for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.
Applicants for BWA auction are Aircel Ltd, Augere (Mauritius) Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd, Infotel Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, Qualcomm Inc, Reliance WiMax Ltd, Spice Internet Service Provider Pvt Ltd, Tata Communications Internet Services Ltd, Tikona Digital Networks Pvt Ltd and Vodafone Essar Ltd.
The last date for applying for both 3G and BWA spectrum was yesterday. While the 3G auction starts from April 9, the BWA auction will begin two days later. Two blocks of 2.3 MHz spectrum in each circle will be put up for the auction. The government has kept the reserve price at Rs 1,750 crore.
Major telcos Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communication were among those who applied for BWA spectrum. Other established players were Vodafone, and Tata Internet Services, owned by Tata Communications.The Tata bid was expected, and in line with TCOM's strategy of strengthening the BWA platform. It has been offering WiMax-based BWA services since 2008 using spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band under its Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence with the Indian government, and had announced a capex outlay of $500 million for three years ending FY12. TCOM thus has a headstart in acquisition of subscribers.
Qualcomm has bid for pan-India BWA spectrum.However, Qualcomm's plans to use the BWA spectrum for offering TD-LTE has not gone down well with WiMAX players (see our ealier two stories).
Among the smaller entrants was Mumbai-based Tikona Wireless, which was started by ex-Reliance employees, and is currently using a technology calles Smart Wi-Fi to give broadband to ten cities in India.
Augere is led by Sanjiv Ahuja, formerly the CEO of Orange. It raised $125 million in the first round of investment from France Telecom, New Silk Route (NSR) and Vedanta. Augere is already offering BWA using WiMax technology in Bangladesh and Pakistan. "Licences are also being actively pursued in countries across Africa, South and South East Asia" according to the company's website. "Augere will not bid for spectrum on a pan-India basis. It will be selective" an insider said earlier. If successful, Augere will have to rope in an Indian partner to comply with the foreign direct investment norms, which make 26% Indian ownership mandatory in telecom operations.
Spectrum winners who are new to the sector, will not automatically get a unified licence or ISP licence on winning the spectrum bid. They will have to procure it by paying the necessary fees. BWA spectrum would attract a charge of 1% of annualised gross revenues from BWA services.
Inputs from Economic Times
