Govt issues fresh spectrum to Vodafone in 14 circles

The company had participated in November 2012 auction to bid for additional spectrum

Government has allocated spectrum to Vodafone in all 14 service areas, where the telecom major won in November 2012 auction for Rs 1,127.94 crore.

"The spectrum has been allocated to Vodafone on June 18. After this, Wireless Operating Licence will be issued to Vodafone," official sources told PTI.

Vodafone participated in November 2012 auction to bid for additional spectrum. The company acquired spectrum in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, North East, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh East and West, Punjab and West Bengal.

The company is second to get spectrum allocation among firms that participated in November 2012 auction.

Videocon was the first company that received spectrum from DoT in March. Rest of the firms Airtel, Idea Cellular, and Telewings Communications (Uninor) who participated in the auction are yet to receive spectrum.

In November 2012, government auctioned 2G airwaves that were freed from licence cancellation. The auction saw muted response industry and fetched bids worth only Rs 9,407.64 crore against minimum value of Rs 28,000 crore fixed for airwaves put for sale.

Sistema Shyam, the lone bidder in March 2013 auction, has also not yet received spectrum.

Sources said that the process is on and other companies will be allocated spectrum soon.