Aircel and Tata Teleservices refrained from bidding for new airwaves
The Department of Telecom has stated that the two telecom operators Tata Teleservices and Aircel have a negative net worth for the upcoming spectrum auctions. They are just allowed to top up their existing holding and will not be able to bid for the new airwaves.
As reported by the Economic Times, DoT stated that, as per the auction rules an operator must have the net worth of at least Rs 100 crore to either be eligible to expand its geographical coverage or buy airwaves in a new band in circles where it holds spectrum. Moreover, Aircel cannot bid for airwave bands that it doesn’t already have in a particular circle.
On the other hand, Tata Teleservices has been constrained from bidding in Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir.
According to the information listed on the official website of DoT Aircel, with a negative Rs 6,668 crore, had furnished net worth of Rs 500 crore in bank guarantees as earnest money deposit (EMD), whereas Tata Teleservices surprised everyone with an EMD of Rs 1,500 crore, higher than those submitted by Uninor and Reliance Communications.
