Will it Ever Happen? India May Delay 3G Auction, Raise Prices

I have written a lot of articles about India's plans for WiMAX and 3G technologies in 2009. But the enormous potential has yet to be realized because of repeated bureaucratic bungling.

Here is the latest on this from Business Week:

India's long-awaited 3G and Wimax auctions may be delayed yet again, as the government considers doubling the floor price for prospective licensees

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2009/gb2009015_600398.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_global+business

How could the Indian government be so incompetent and irresponsible?
What do our 360 members in India have to say about this?

Comment by Ashish on January 10, 2009 at 7:08am: I can empathize with you. Indian political system and Government have been known to be inefficient and ad-hoc in their decision making. I would not say that they are irresponsible (they responsibly give you the next auction date :P), but they are incompetent for sure. This morbidly doubles up with the corruption.

Being an Indian, I am also as frustrated as you are :)

Cheers!

Ashish Gupta

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on January 10, 2009 at 11:36am: Ashish

Thanks very much for your comment. While I am not Indian, I spend most of my time at the India Community Center in Milpitas (www.indiacc.org) where I fratenize with many Indian people. We talk about the lack of corporate governance among other topics.

I was not the only one disappointed in the auctions being delayed yet again.
Here we go again January 9th, 2009
"If only India could enjoy the kind of 3G licence expediency so readily apparent in China. There’s been another delay in India, with January 30th now believed to be the next date from which licence allocation will be postponed. This week India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) rejected a proposal from the country’s finance ministry to double the reserve price for a national 3G licence. DoT felt this could risk damaging enthusiasm among foreign investors and result in higher prices to end users. However, the final decision rests with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. So we’ll have to wait and see."

http://blog.telecoms.com/2009/01/09/here-we-go-again/

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on January 10, 2009 at 11:44am: Where were the government auditors?
Ramalinga Raju, the founder and chairman of Satyam Computer Services, told the outscourcing company's Board that most of the cash on Satyam's balance sheet does not exist, that revenue has been overstated for years, and that its real profit for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 was only $12.5 million — rather than the $136 million the company had reported to investors. Mr. Raju, in other words, had been cooking the books.

In India, Crisis Pairs With Fraud
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/business/10nocera.html?_r=1&8dpc

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on January 10, 2009 at 8:45pm: India ranks 118th for ease of doing business in a country and ranks 136th for ease of getting government contracts/approvals. Even corrupt Nigeria is ahead of India!

http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/

Comment by Ashish on January 12, 2009 at 1:23am: Hi,

I agree and that is why flourishing in India is difficult. The laws and regulations are just outdated. You climb two steps, they pull you down by one. And that is why Indians abroad are doing good. Things are changing but slowly. I work in a 802.16e Base Station development Startup. I am also eagerly waiting for the license to be auctioned so that we could do some business.

And regarding Satyam's Raju, Well, it's is just another Enron. PWC, who did the auditing will have to face the brunt.

Ashish

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on February 3, 2009 at 9:25pm: Indian columnists do not agree with current terms and conditions of India’s upcoming spectrum auction:

Is it for India?
The 3G-WiMax spectrum auction is happening at a time when the global economy is in doldrums. It does not make sense for India to go ahead with the current format of spectrum auction considering the subscriber base available in other countries

If the 3G and WiMax spectrum auctions happen in the current fiscal, they would see operators grabbing the opportunity to bid for the much needed bandwidth. But is 3G and WiMax indispensable for India? Have their services revolutionized the markets where they have been launched? Not really.

http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/service_provider/109020302.asp

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on February 8, 2009 at 2:30pm: India may be next WiMAX mecca

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/India_may_become_next__WiMAX_mecca_/articleshow/4092603.cms

"India is slated to become the largest WiMAX market in the Asia-Pacific by 2013. A recent study sees India's WiMAX subscriber base hitting 14 million by Year 2013 and grow annually at nearly 130%. What's more, initial investment in WiMAX ventures is slated to top $500 mn in India, notes the report conducted by US-based research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics."

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on February 10, 2009 at 9:51pm: Please refer to this post for additional info, comment and analysis:

http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2009/february/Study-Predicts-India-to-be-Largest-WiMAX-market-in-Asia-Pacific-by-2013-0209

We especially invite Intel to comment!

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on February 26, 2009 at 2:03pm: BSNL Launches India's First High-speed Wireless Broadband Network in Gujarat

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Soma-Networks-Inc-954543.html

Comment by Alan J Weissberger on February 26, 2009 at 2:08pm: India's 3G, WiMax rollout may be pushed to 2010

Although Telecommunication Minister A. Raja this week said it is possible to hold auctions for India's 3G spectrum by Mar. 31, experts doubt the current government will proceed with haste in this realm.

http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,62051318,00.htm

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