Tata Teleservices, Aircel can’t bid for new airwaves; can top up existing holdings: Telecom department

NEW DELHI: Tata Teleservices and Aircel — the only two telcos that have declared a negative net worth for next month’s spectrum auctions — are allowed to only top up their existing holdings and can’t bid for new airwaves, the telecom department has said.

A senior official of the department of telecommunications explained to ET that the auction rules require an operator to have a net worth of at least Rs 100 crore to make it eligible to either expand its geographical coverage or buy airwaves in a new band in circles where it holds spectrum.

The department of telecommunications said late Tuesday that Aircel cannot bid for airwave bands that it doesn’t already have in a particular circle.

Tata Tele has been restricted from bidding in Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir. It also cannot “bid in such bands in the remaining service areas where applicant (Tata Tele) does not have spectrum in that service area,” DoT said.

According to the telecom department’s website, Aircel, with a negative net worth of Rs 6,668 crore, had furnished Rs 500 crore in bank guarantees as earnest money deposit (EMD) while Tata Teleservices surprised everyone with an EMD of Rs 1,500 crore, higher than those submitted by Uninor and Reliance Communications. Tata Tele had a negative net worth of Rs 8,985 crore.