Idea Cellular has won bids in 1800 Mhz spectrum auctions in the service areas of Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Assam, North East, J&K, West Bengal, & Kolkatta, which effectively ensures the continuity of service to its over 8 million subscribers in these 7 new circles and protects the investments made in these circles. Additionally it also secured an additional slot of 1.25 MHz for the circle of Bihar, allowing it to effectively cater to the growing needs of the subscribers of Bihar and Jharkhand.
The circumstances surrounding this auction were unusual. Four years after full-fledged operations in the above service areas, events placed Idea Cellular in an unenviable situation where it could either continue operations or abandon the telecom business in these circles. During this period, the company had made investments of over Rs 5,100 crore in Capex and start-up losses.
During this period the company made additional human investments of approx 2,000 team members, 200,000 channel partners and 8 million subscribers, all of whom had reposed their faith in the company. Faced with a Hobson’s choice, Idea participated in the auction, which it may not have considered in a normal start-up situation.
Company Name | CMP |
---|---|
Bharti Airtel | 1584.05 |
Vodafone Idea | 8.41 |
Indus Towers | 358.75 |
Tata Communications | 1801.30 |
Bharti Hexacom Ltd. | 1399.45 |
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