Spectrum auction notice in 15-20 days: Farooqui

The notice inviting applications (NIA) for the spectrum auctions in January 2014 is expected to come in another 15-20 days, M.F. Farooqui, secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said Thursday.

"The NIA will come in about 15-20 days' time from now," he told reporters on the sidelines of the India Telecom 2013 organised here by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and DoT.

NIA is a legal document that lays down rules and regulations of the auction.

The government aims to garner Rs.40,000 crore from the auction in January, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said during his inaugural speech.

"Considering industry-friendly regulatory changes that we promulgated, I am confident of meeting revenue target of Rs.40,000 crore from spectrum sale this fiscal," he said.

The earlier two rounds of auction had fetched only about Rs.12,000 crore as most operators stayed away, citing high base prices.

The government had made a total revenue target of Rs.40,874.5 crore this financial year from the spectrum auction.

The spectrum likely to be auctioned in 2014 is more than 400MHz of airwaves for commercial use in 1,800 MHz and 45MHz of airwaves in 900 MHz.