Refarming jolt for Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, others

The country’s top three mobile operators — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular — who collectively serve half of India’s 900 million cellphone users, suffered a major jolt on Wednesday with the Telecom Commission recommending that the entire spectrum they hold in the more efficient 900 MHz be taken back and auctioned. Under this refarming process, if the companies manage to win in the auctions, they will be able to retain the spectrum or, in lieu, they would be given the less efficient 1,800 MHz at the auction-determined price.

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