Foreign telcos in 2g auction

A meeting of an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday approved the participation of 100 per cent foreign owned telecom firms in the 2G spectrum auction scheduled for November.

Foreign players, who win spectrum in the auction, will be allocated licence and spectrum only after they divest 26 per cent stake to an Indian partner.

According to rules, telecom companies can only have 74 per cent foreign direct investment.

The decision will help players like Telenor, which has severed its ties with Unitech in their joint venture Uninor. Uninor’s license was cancelled by the Supreme Court.

Following the Supreme Court’s opinion on the Presidential Reference, the government is now free to take a decision in this regard.

However, the EGoM has postponed a decision on the issue of one-time fee on spectrum held by existing telecom operators to October 8.

Sources said once EGoM firms up its views on one-time fee to be charged for spectrum held by existing players, the recommendation would be put before the Cabinet for final nod.

DoT has proposed the one-time auction- determined price to create a level-playing field between new entrants and and existing players.

According to sources, the EGoM has also been given the task of considering matters relating to e-auction of FM Radio broadcasting services.