Next round of 2G, 3G airwaves auctions from Feb 25

The next round of spectrum auction in 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 megahertz (MHz) will start from Feb 25, it was announced here Saturday.

The Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for auction of spectrum in 2100 MHz, 1800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz bands was issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Friday, an official statement said.

The total spectrum put to auction is 103.75 MHz in 800 MHz band, 177.8 MHz in 900 MHz band and 99.2 MHz in 1800 MHz band - a total of 380.75 MHz in 800, 900 and 1800 MHz.

The details of 2100 MHz bands would be announced later, it mentioned.

"Validity of spectrum in this auction shall be 20 years. There is also option of deferred payment. The auction format is simultaneous, multiple-round, ascending auction," the statement said.

The last date for submission of application by the telecom service providers is Feb 6.

The cabinet Monday approved the proposal of the DoT to proceed with auction in 800, 900 and 1800 (mega hertz) MHz bands and finalised its reserve prices.

"The reserve price approved is 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 and Kashmir; Rs.2,191 crore pan India (excluding Maharashtra and West Bengal) in 1800 MHz band," the statement said.

In December 2015, seven licences each of Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications, four licences of Bharti Airtel and six licences of Vodafone will complete their 20-year term after which they should be renewed.

The estimated revenues from this auction are Rs.64,840 crore (excluding 2100 MHz spectrum) of which Rs.16,000 crore is expected to be realized in the current financial year (2014-15).The revenue target from spectrum auction set by the government in the 2014-15 budget is Rs.45,471 crore.