BSNL May Expand Network Coverage into Naxal Areas by Year-end:

India's state-owned mobile network, BSNL is expected to start expanding its network into terrorist affected areas by the end of this year.

The deployment is dependent on approval from the Telecom Commission, which is expected to be granted later this month.

The rural areas have been poorly served by mobile networks, partly due to economic reasons, but also due to the ongoing terrorist insurgency.

The Naxalites are a Maoist communist group in India, leaders of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. The Naxals are considered far-left radical communists, supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology. They have a modus-operandi of attacking mobile phone networks and taking down their towers - after claiming that the police use the networks to track their mobile phones.

An official said BSNL has already installed 363 towers and identified another 450 sites for setting up towers.

"BSNL has opened the tender and selected the vendor. The market price for the project has been obtained, which is communicated to the Department of Telecom (DoT). Further decision is to be taken after the approval of the Telecom Commission," an official told PTI.

Cabinet clears base price for spectrum:

The Cabinet on Monday fixed the minimum price for selling telecom spectrum at up to about half the rate set at the previous auction to net at least Rs 48,000 crore in revenue from the sale planned in January.

The Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fixed the start price for the sale of spectrum in the 1800 mega-Hertz band at a pan-India rate of Rs 1,765 crore per MHz, about 26 per cent lower than the base price in the March sale.

For the 900 MHz band, it approved a rate about 53 per cent lower than the previous auction price.

"The Cabinet approved the spectrum sale price as recommended by an EGoM (Empowered Group of Ministers)," a top official said.

The EGoM on telecom, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had suggested fixing the base or minimum price for the auction of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band at a 15 per cent higher rate than suggested by telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI ).

In doing so, it went by the recommendation of the Telecom Commission to auction spectrum in the 1800 MHz band at a minimum pan-India price of Rs 1,765 crore per MHz against the TRAI-suggested rate of Rs 1,496 crore.

The EGoM had also accepted a 25 per cent higher base price for premium 2G spectrum in the 900 MHz band than what was suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The government has decided to auction 403.2 MHz of 2G spectrum in the 1800 MHz frequency, which at the base price finalised by the Cabinet, amounts to about Rs 36,385 crore.

EGoM approves 'higher' base price for 2G spectrum auction:

The Empowered group of ministers (EGoM) has approved the Telecom Commission's proposal that recommended 15 per cent and 25 per cent hike in auction base price of 1,800 MHz and 900 MHz bands respectively, above the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) suggested price.

The Commission had earlier this month suggested fixing a minimum Rs 1,765 crore per megahertz (MHz) as the price for pan-India spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band, 15-per cent higher than Trai's suggested price of Rs 1,496 crore.

Even after the increase, the reserve price is lower than the one fixed for failed auction of November 2012, when spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band was offered at a base price of Rs 2,800 crore per MHz.

"The base price for 900 MHz should be 25 per cent higher than what the Trai had recommended," the EGoM, headed by defence minister AK Antony, said. 

Spectrum in this band will cost a minimum of Rs 360 crore per MHz for Delhi, Rs 328 crore for Mumbai and Rs 125 crore for Kolkata. 

Even after the increase, the reserve price is lower than the one fixed for failed auction of November 2012, when spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band was offered at a base price of Rs 2,800 crore per MHz.

"The EGoM met Friday and we took a final decision on the reserve price and the EGoM has accepted the reserve price recommendations of the Telecom Commission," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in the national capital.

An operator can bid for a maximum of 5 MHz in the 900 MHz band.

For the 1,800 MHz band, Sibal said that a decision will be taken on the quantum to be auctioned after consulting DoT about spectrum availability. "We have to finalise the total quantum of spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band that has to be put up for auction. That would be decided hopefully at the end of the coming week," Sibal said.

Telecom Commission to discuss M&A guidelines on October 29: report

Telecom Commission, the highest decision making body of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), is likely to discuss telecom merger and acquisitions (M&A) guidelines in its meeting on October 29, according to official sources.

"The merger and acquisition guidelines are on the agenda," the sources said.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had said earlier the guidelines will be issued by November 1.

The sources said that DoT is considering allowing market share of up to 50 per cent of the resultant entity in case of merger and acquisitions from 35 per cent earlier.

The DoT sources also said that "transfer of licences consequent to compromise, arrangements or amalgamation of companies shall be allowed where market share for access services in respective service area of the resultant entity is up to 50 per cent".

The companies will also be allowed to retain two blocks of 3G spectrum in respective areas as a result of the merger, they added.

The resultant entity has to surrender the excess spectrum within one year of the permission being granted failing which action will be taken by the government, the sources said.

The guidelines, if approved, is likely to benefit telecom players such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular. As per the guidelines, incumbent service providers participating in consolidation activities will have to convert their old licence to unified licence, they added.

In the revised guidelines, a DoT panel on M&A has proposed one year time for completing transaction and exemption from cross holding norms that prohibits incumbent companies from having more than 9.9 per cent stake in competing firms.