Telecom
stocks are seen trading in a range, with all eyes on the ongoing spectrum auction,
awaiting cues. Today is the fifth day of the telecom spectrum auction. At the
end of
Day 4, the government had got provisional bids worth over 510 bln rupees for
all the spectrum
put on the block. The government has put on the block 385.2 Mhz pan-India spectrum
in the 1,800 Mhz band and 46 Mhz spectrum in the 900 Mhz band for Delhi, Mumbai
and Kolkata circles. An
industry said even if the auction continues in the coming days, the overall
bids for the entire
spectrum are not expected to see any significant rise from the current level,
as the bidding
intensity--seen in the first three days--has peaked out. If the auction
concludes next
week, investors will see whether incumbent operator Bharti Airtel has been able
to retain
its spectrum holding in the 900 Mhz band or not. The
company is jostling with other operators to acquire 900 Mhz spectrum in the
three circles.
For Delhi and Kolkata circles in the 900 Mhz band, the company will have to vacate
its spectrum when the licences for the two expire in November. If they want to retain
the spectrum in the two circles, they will have to acquire it back in the
auction being
conducted currently. Eight
telecom companies--Bharti Airtel Ltd, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd,
Vodafone India Ltd, Reliance Communications Ltd, Telenor's Telewings Communications
Services Pvt Ltd, Aircel Ltd and Tata Teleservices Ltd are participating in
the auction. Reliance
Communications may start the coming week week on a bearish note, as the company's
Oct-Dec result announced today was below Street estimates. The company's consolidated
net profit for the reporting quarter was 1.08 bln rupees.
