Fix reserve price at Rs.1,658 crore in 2G auction: Uninor

Telecom service provider Uninor Friday signalled its participation in the upcoming auction of 2G licences, asking the telecom regulator to fix the reserve price at Rs.1,658 crore and limiting it to only new players.

“The spirit of 2008 should be maintained. It was about issuing new licenses. Therefore, incumbent should not be allowed to participate …The last discovered market price was Rs.1,658 crore, this should be the reserve price now to discover the new price,” said Sigve Brekke, managing director of Uninor.

Emphasising that the Supreme Court ruling which said the government shall consider recommendations of the Telcom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and take appropriate decision within next one month and fresh licenses be granted by auction, Brekke said this round of auction has to be only to remedy the 2008 process.

“It is very clear that this is not for those who already have a license that has not been challenged or revoked in the court.”

Brekke also said his firm had also sought a clarification as to how much spectrum was expected to be released per circle and how many licenses were to be given out.”

Asked if Uninor would be interested in bidding even if the price of spectrum escalates to a very high level, Brekke said: “It’s impossible for me to comment on this now, of course we are interested in auction. We are here to do business. If we had not been interested in India, would we been putting this much of effort?”

“This is the first round, it’s a pre-consultation paper and then we have to see what the amount is going to look like.”

Brekke said Uninor was adding customers, even after the court ruling that cancelled 122 licences, including 22 of the firm, issued in 2008.

Asked if the auction got delayed beyond the four months after which the licenses of the affected firms will be cancelled, Brekke said: “That is also one of the problem. of course, we will discuss that with the government. My intention is it will stay within this four months.”

Uninor is a joint venture between Norway’s Telenor and India’s Unitech.