Govt. to woo 3 ignored states’ cellular players with new terms

KOLKATA: The government will come out with new terms in December to woo

private firms into the cellular sector in three states ignored by bidders at a

recent mobile license auction, a senior central government official said on

Monday.

The government, which auctioned the licenses for the slot of fourth cellular

operator across India's 21 telecom zones in July, received bids for only 17

zones.

There were no bidders for West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. There are two slots

vacant for cellular service providers in these states, each of which now has two

mobile phone operators in state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. and the Reliance

business group.

"The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has already submitted its

recommendations on the new entry norms (to the government)," Shyamal Ghosh,

telecommunications secretary, told reporters on the sidelines of a telecom

conference in Kolkata.

"We are studying the TRAI proposals and will come out with fresh terms

for entry to West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa by December-end," he added.

Ghosh did not give further details. "There's a lot of interest in West

Bengal now. Hopefully, the new terms will get people interested," Ghosh

said.

Global research group Gartner has forecast that India's mobile market would

grow to 15.68 million subscribers by end-2003 from 4.8 million as of September

30, 2001.

(C) Reuters Limited.