Telecom Secretary JS Deepak says the upcoming spectrum auction will separate men from boys.

According to Telecom Secretary JS Deepak, men will be separated from boys in the upcoming spectrum auction, as the companies that don’t fix the holes in their bandwidth portfolios will be left behind.

Deepak said the government was offering unprecedented quantum of airwaves in the auction that starts October 1, giving telcos an opportunity to acquire data and voice spectrum."Operators who don't fill their gaps will be left out. This auction will separate the men from boys.” He also pointed out that incumbent operators now being accused by Jio of denying points of interconnection (PoIs) had leveled similar charges against Bharat Sanchar Nigam 15-20 years ago.

"When BSNL was the incumbent and new players were coming in, there was the issue of these very players complaining BSNL was not giving PoIs. Today, they are on the other side of the table," Deepak told ET.

Jio filed a complaint against Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, that they weren’t providing adequate PoIs, which leads to call drops. "It is like entering a crowded train. People inside resist but it settles down, so I expect this to settle down as well," Deepak added.

Deepak turned down the incumbents, who cited low termination charges as a key reason for denial of PoIs by saying “the two cannot be linked. It is essential that subscribers of one network are connected to the other. That is the requirement and not related to what the commercial arrangement is regarding termination charge.”

The auction will see sale of about 2,300 MHz of spectrum, which is more than that held by top 4 telcos.
(image:EconomicTimes)