3 CEOs write to FM on spectrum refarming issue
06 Jun 2012
The chief executive officers of three GSM operators – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular - have jointly written a letter to the finance minister stating that the telecom regulator's proposal to refarm spectrum would cost them over Rs1 lakh crore.
In the letter, the top bosses of the telecom companies have sought Pranab Mukherjee's intervention to prevent their migration to 1800 Mhz spectrum.
Mukherjee is the chairman of the empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM),
The letter was jointly signed by Sanjay Kapoor (CEO - India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel), Marten Pieters (MD and CEO, Vodafone India) and Himanshu Kapania (MD, Idea Cellular).
In their letter, the CEOs say they would require to make investments to re-tune their networks to the new frequency, which if not done, could impact as many as 70 million subscribers.
This follows similar letters and representation made by Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), which is also the representative body of these GSM operators, to the finance minister.
