After real estate player Parsvnath Developers announced its intentions for entering the telecom business, two other real estate players are ready to throw their hats into the ring: HT reports that DLF plans to apply to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for a Unified Access Service (UAS) licence.
Unitech, another listed real estate developer, has applied for a pan-India telecom licence, reports Zee News. Unitech is in talks with telecom companies and financial investors for partnership, much like Parsvnath Developers.
The danger, as the government sees it, is that those applying for licences could use that opportunity to garner spectrum, and some could serve as proxies for existing players (as suspected in the case of Essar and Shippingstop.com). To that end, Telecom minister Raja wants the DoT to formulate new guidelines for screening companies for telecom licences, reports moneycontrol. There’s also the possibility that UAS licences could only be given depending on the availability of spectrum. While the TRAI had suggested that no cap be put on the number of telcos operating in a circle, the DoT is yet to take a call on that.
Disclaimer: I have an inconsequential number of shares of DLF
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