The Economic Times reports that Reliance-owned data business, Infotel Broadband, is likely to bid aggressively in category A circles, and is even considering the possibility of bidding for pan-India 2G spectrum.
Should Infotel choose to participate in the auction it will lead to a significant rise in spectrum prices and may impact existing 2G players, Bharti airtel and Vodafone.
Any increase is also expected to impact entrants RCOM and Tata Teleservices, while Infotel could also limit the amount of spectrum other bidders can win, given that only 10MHz is being auctioned.
Demand for voice services in India has taken off but with 3G services yet to be launched, and the country’s pure data market still maturing, bundling voice with data is considered an attractive option for Reliance.
Infotel owns broadband wireless access spectrum across India but has yet to launch data services.
