To continue holding the 2G spectrum licences in three key cities of India - Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata - for 20 more years as its licence is set to expire in November 2014, India’s telecom operator, Vodafone has offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) .
That is a quarter of the Rs.16,000 - crore reserve price set by the Government in the auctions in March this year, which failed due to lack of bidders. For renewal of its 900 MHz spectrum, the company said, it was willing to pay 1.3 times the reserve price for 1800 MHz spectrum arrived at by the market.
The company wrote to the Secretary in the Department of Telecom (DoT), offering to pay Rs.1,700 crore each for spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai circles and another Rs.600 crore for airwaves in Kolkata along with a flat spectrum usage charge for the three telecom circles.
T. V. Ramachandran, Resident Director for Regulatory Affairs and Government Regulations, Vodafone, in the letter said, For extension of our licences for 20 years along with the current mix of spectrum and a flat usage charge of 3% of AGR (adjusted gross revenue), we are willing to pay Rs.4,000 crore as given below: Delhi: Rs.1,700 crore; Mumbai: Rs.1,700 crore; and Kolkata: Rs.600 crore.
While suggesting the Rs.4,000-crore sum for the 1800 MHz spectrum and licences, Vodafone said it was open to negotiations on the licence fee in order to come to a mutually acceptable decision.
