Foreign telcos can go for 3G bid sans Indian partners

THE GOVERNMENT on Thursday said it will allow foreign telcos to bid for 3G spectrum as 100% entities.This implies, international communication majors will not need to tie up with an Indian JV partner and seek
clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to participate in the upcoming 3G auctions.
Following the auctions, successful telcos would be given a specific timeframe to find an Indian partner and
get the mandatory clearance from FIPB.
 “The foreign telcos can bid on their own for the 3G spectrum, but before rolling out services theyshould find an Indian partner,” telecom secretary Siddharth Behura told reporters on Thursday.
Mr Behura said the bidding process to find an agency that will overlook the rollout of the proposed mobile
number portability (MNP) will open within a week: “The agency would be finalised in three months. Six
months from thereafter, we will roll out the MNP services in the metros initially and later in the rest of the
country,” he added.
In an unrelated development, with increasing terrorist strikes raising security concerns, the DoT has set up
a committee to formulate stricter guidelines to strengthen the subscriber verification system. “This committee
will come out with strict guidelines within a month. We are very strict about this (subscriber verification). If we
find them (service providers) guilty we might even consider canceling their licence,” Mr Behura said.
While Indian regulations don’t allow foreign telecom players to hold more than 74% stake in any firm and
clearly specify that an Indian partner must have a minimum 26% stake, the logic for giving foreign telcos this
leeway is as follows: With the first round of 3G spectrum auction just a month or two away, foreign players
such as AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Verizon feel it will not be possible to enter into JVs with Indian partners at such a short notice. Foreign telcos also don’t want a situation where, after having tied up with Indian partners, they fail to bag 3G spectrum and have to disband their JVs. Additionally, international communication majors also share the view that since the auction details are yet to be announced, there is no case to convince an Indian company for a possible partnership.
TELE TELLForeign telcos will be allowed to bid on their own for the 3G spectrum but before rolling out services they will have to find an Indian partner Telcos don't want a situation where, after having partnered with Indian cos, they fail to bag 3G spectrum and have to disband their JVs
Indian regulations don’t allow foreign telecom players to hold more than 74% stake in any firm