RCom accuses Bharti of preventing competition

NEW DELHI: Reacting sharply to Bharti Airtel's offer to pay Rs 2,650 crore for all-India spectrum, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Monday said the GSM operator was trying to prevent competition.

"This is another ploy of Bharti to prevent competition. It shows their (Bharti's) anti-consumer and anti-competitive behaviour," an RCom spokesperson said.
   
Bharti has offered to pay Rs 2,650 crore for 4.4 MHz all-India spectrum as proposed by the government under dual technology norms.
   
Bharti said it reserved the right to increase the bid in the event of an auction for such a pan-India GSM spectrum allocation and this (Rs 2,650 crore) might be taken as their initial bid.
   
RCom, which has received permission to enter GSM cellular operation as part of dual technology, is the major beneficiary of the new policy as it would get a straight entry to 14 circles to start GSM-based services. It already offers such services in eight circles.
   
RCom said that Bharti's offer to increase the spectrum fee by Rs 1,000 crore was nothing but an "attempt to confuse issues."