DoT postpones spectrum auction to March 4

Cabinet to decide on reserve price for 2100 Mhz band today

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has deferred the auction of telecom spectrum by a week to March 4.

The auction for spectrum in 800-, 900-, 2100- and 1800-MHz band was originally slated to start from February 25 this year. The deadline for bidders to submit applications has also been extended by 10 days to February 16. The mock auction will now start on March 2-3, instead of February 23-24.

The Cabinet is expected to take a final call on the reserve price for the 2,100-MHz band on Wednesday. The Telecom Commission has recommended a base price of Rs 3,705 crore per MHz for airwaves under this band.

The government expects to earn between Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh-crore from the auction. It plans to sell 380.75 MHz in three bands — 900-MHz, 1800-MHz and 800-MHz. It will also sell five Mhz in the 2,100-Mhz band, which is used for 3G services, across 17 out of 22 telecom areas.

While the government has finalised the base rates for the 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz and 800-MHz bands, it has not yet decided the price for the 2,100-MHz band.

The government has fixed a reserve price of Rs 3,646 crore pan-India per MHz in 800-MHz; Rs 3,980 crore for 900-MHz band pan-India, excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Jammu & Kashmir; and Rs 2,191 crore pan-India (excluding Maharashtra and West Bengal) in the 1800-MHz band.