RCOM returns 1800MHz spectrum to DoT

Reliance Communications (RCOM) has returned 70 units of spectrum in the 1800MHz band to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), having failed to find a buyer for the airwaves, the Economic Times reports. The frequencies were non-liberalised – i.e. they were not purchased through a competitive auction – and as such, the purchaser would have needed to also pay the government a liberalisation fee of around INR15 billion (USD220 million), representing the difference in cost between their current market value and the amount originally paid by RCOM for the allocation.