Govt ready to delay spectrum auctions to auspicious day: Secy

Mumbai, Aug 23 (PTI) Government is looking at pushingthe upcoming spectrum auction by a few days to coincide withthe period considered auspicious by Hindus, as requested bytelecom industry, a top official said today while exudingconfidence that revenue target from the biddings will be met. "The date of auction we had announced from September29, but many companies and people feel that the Navratra isstarting from October 1, that is a good time to bid. If itgives them good comfort to bid and spend more money to buy thespectrum, we are willing to change it to the first week,"Telecom Secretary J S Deepak told reporters here. Citing high reserve price for certain mobileradiowaves, telecom firms have not shown great enthusiasm sofar for the upcoming round, being touted as the largestspectrum auction in the country. Telecom is one of the most leveraged sectors as thecompanies have been heavily investing in capex towards networkexpansion and spectrum buys. The third largest telecom player, Idea’s chieffinancial officer Akshaya Moondra had said earlier this monththat the industry is moving into an era of "spectrum glut"from "spectrum scarcity" due to which companies would not bidin a "frenzy" and stick to economic fundamentals. Deepak, however, sought to dismiss notions of anydampness in the spectrum sale. "We are selling a lot of good quality spectrum, soprices will be high," Deepak said, adding that "almost all"the companies participated in a pre-bid meeting held recently. He exuded confidence that auctions will be"successful" and the Department of Telecom (DoT) will meet itsrevenue mobilisation targets through it. The government planned to kick off the biggest everspectrum auction on September 29 and had said it was expecting25 per cent upfront payment for the spectrum below 1 GHz,which would be assigned within 30 days after the bidding. MOREPTI AA BEN ARS SASDM