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Govt defers mega spectrum auction to Oct 1
NEW DELHI: The Indian government has deferred to Oct 1, 2016 mega sale of mobile frequencies that are aimed at ushering in quality telecoms services, including 4G services capable of delivering hi-speed broadband speed for easy video delivery.
“For start of the auction 29th September READ start of the auction 1st October,” PTI quoted a revised government communication inviting application for spectrum auction as saying.
As per an earlier schedule, bids for airwaves was scheduled to start from September 29 that fell during the ‘shradh’ period considered inauspicious to start new ventures as Indians pay homage to departed souls during this period.
Telecom operators had demanded that the spectrum sale, which is the biggest ever auction, should begin with the start of Navratra festival, considered auspicious, the PTI report states.
Department of Telecoms (DoT) has put on the block a total of 2,354.55 megahertz of mobile frequencies for auction in bandwidths of 700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz.
All the radiowaves being put for auction can be used for high speed 4G services.
Recently during Vidnet2016, an OTT-specific conference organised by Indiantelevision, Star India’s chief of digital initiative (Hotstar) Ajit Mohan had opined that for platforms like Hotstar high data cost and low quality bandwidth were major challenges.
At base price, the sale of all spectrum would fetch bids worth Rs 5.63 lakh crore. Of this, spectrum in premium 700 Mhz band alone has potential to attract bids of Rs 4 lakh crore.
Industry experts, however, have cast doubts over success of the spectrum auction due to high base price of mobile airwaves, but DoT has expressed confidence saying buyers of airwaves in the most expensive frequency band 700 Mhz would be able to save 70 per cent of the cost they will spend on rolling out infrastructure, the PTI reports states.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
