India kicks off $1.8 billion spectrum auction

India’s struggling telecoms industry is due to kick off its latest round of spectrum auctions, after the nation’s Supreme Court rejected a last-minute petition from Vodafone and Bharti Airtel to delay the contest.

The court’s decision is a blow to India’s two largest telecoms operators by sales, both of which had filed petitions to stop the $1.8 billion re-auctioning of valuable spectrum they own in large cities, including Mumbai and New Delhi. Bharti and Vodafone will now have to rebid for these city licenses, which begin to expire later this year, in spite of claims from both groups that their contracts ought to allow them to reacquire the spectrum without competitive bidding.