Sistema Shyam Teleservices ltd (SSTl), in a protest letter to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), protested against the regulator's recommendation and suggested that there should be no auction of CDMA airwaves. SSTl, a company which offers mobile services under the MTS brand, also said that it wants to invest in India and participate in spectrum auctions to expand operations across the country.
SSTl was the lone bidder for the CDMA spectrum in the March 2013 auctions and won spectrum for 8 circles at a combined cost of Rs 3,639 crore. Dmitry Shukov, CEO of SSTl in the letter said, “We have already made $3.6 billion long-term investment in India and would need additional spectrum to meet the growing demand from subscribers for better quality services.”
TRAI, earlier this month in its recommendations pointed out that there was no demand for the CDMA spectrum. TRAI further added that the Government is not bound by the Supreme Court order to auction CDMA radiowaves.
Reacting to the point, Shukov said, “Had reserve price for 800 MHz spectrum band been reasonable, we may have bought more spectrum in 8 circles and participated in auction for remaining 13 circles and continued with Pan India operations.”
Shukov has also protested against the suggestion of making part of CDMA spectrum band available for extended GSM services. “We are perturbed by the Authority's recommendation to cull out significant portion of 800 MHz band to create EGSM band and withhold auction of 800 MHz spectrum band. Our decision to investment in 800 MHz spectrum band was based on current and future availability of spectrum in this band,” he said.
Trai has recommended up to 62 per cent lower price for 900 Mhz band spectrum compared to last reserve price. Government is considering auction of certain amount of frequencies in 900 Mhz band which are with telecom companies like Airtel, Vodafone and loop Mobile in service areas where their licences will expire in the last quarter of 2014.