It wasn’t meant to be this way.
By now, India should have completed the issue of 3G licences for data-rich telecommunication services.
Instead, the country is still hosting pre-bid conferences ahead of an auction of third generation, or 3G, spectrum that is scheduled for January. Interestingly, a similar conference was held in December.
The delay could hurt India in more ways than the government may have considered. After all, India’s much-touted telecom boom is running the risk of coming apart at the seams—the result of price-based competition that is seeing profits shrink at the country’s largest telecom firms.
So, potential bidders for 3G spectrum are realizing that apart from all the regulatory grey areas, they will also have to deal with a business environment where there’s no easy money to be made.
Clearly, it isn’t just companies, but also countries that stand to lose when they take too long with their so-called “go-to-market” strategies.