Delaying Qualcomm's ISP Licence : Failing after succeeding spectacularly The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seems intent on undoing one its most spectacular successes.  Last year, it auctioned spectrum for two important wireless technologies viz 3G and BWA (Broadband Wireless Access), which can help deliver broadband services across India speedily and cheaply.  It was praised for conducting a remarkably transparent auction and for delivering a whopping Rs.105000 crores (ove...

India has little choice but to auction spectrum for mobile services Most countries have far fewer operators than India does and rarely more than 6 in any service area. With a dozen or so operators in most service areas in India, the demand for spectrum far exceeds supply.  Auctions can have their problems - e.g. speculative bidding, possibly slower roll out in less lucrative markets etc. They may be unnecessary if all demand can be met easily. But how else do we allocate sp...