Uninor has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a direction that the 2G auction should be held by June 2. This is in counter to an appeal by the Government which wants 400 days to conclude the spectrum sale.
Uninor said the business cannot survive the uncertainty of 400 days and, therefore, the auctions must be held by the deadline set by the apex court. The court, while cancelling 122 licences in February had said that auctions must be completed in four months. But the Government filed a petition that it will need more time to conduct 2G auctions. The apex court is yet to take a view on the petition filed by the Government.
“The Government doesn't have to reinvent the wheel as they can follow the 3G auction model,” said Mr Sigve Brekke, Managing Director, Uninor.
The company also said it was willing to pay a higher price for the 2G spectrum compared to what was paid in 2008. In its submission to the TRAI consultation paper on 2G auctions Uninor said the base price for the 2G auctions should be the same as the reserve price fixed for 3G spectrum. While auctioning 3G airwaves, the Government had set Rs 3,500 crore as the base price for pan-India spectrum. This is a shift in stance by Uninor as the company had earlier suggested Rs 1,650 crore as the base price.
However, the company has suggested that auction winners should be allowed deferred payment with 25 per cent of the bid amount paid upfront and the balance over a 10-year period. “We are willing to also pay an interest on the deferred amount at SBI Prime Lending Rate plus 1 per cent,” Mr Brekke said. The operator has suggested that the first phase of the auction should be limited to new players and at least 6.2 Mhz of spectrum should be put on the block.