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The postponement of India's 3G spectrum auction until January 2009 might be seen as a blow for Vodafone, which is focusing heavily for growth on its Vodafone Essar unit in the country. But the company has actually called on the Indian Department of Telecom (DoT) to delay the sale still further, claiming it will be hard for telcos to raise financing for the licenses and build-out during the current economic downturn.

This news followed a sharp drop in Vodafone's shares last Tuesday, mainly on investor fears that the main growth engine for the giant cellco, emerging markets like India, would be badly hit by recession. Shares fell 8% in value, to its lowest level since March 2003, at 103p.

In July, Vodafone cut its revenue guidance for 2008-09 after a disappointing performance by some of its core European businesses, notably Spain, in the quarter to June, but it was still talking up growth prospects in emerging markets such as India, parts of Africa and Turkey, where it has been snapping up operators or partners in the past few years. This strategy has been accelerated since Vittorio Colao took over as CEO from Arun Sarin.

Shareholder nervousness about the policy, at least for the short term, was sparked by weaker than expected results from another emerging markets operator, Millicom International Cellular, a Luxemburg-based company with businesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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