"I had a very fruitful meeting with Defence minister and both of us agreed that while Defence's need of spectrum for the country's security is important, the growth of telecom as infrastructure sector is equally important. We need to work in consent, coordination and synergy," Prasad told reporters after his first meeting with Parrikar on spectrum issue here.
Based on various recommendations and agreements, the DoT expects Defence ministry to clear about 165 Mhz of spectrum across frequency bands.
Telecom regulator TRAI has recommended that spectrum in 2100 Mhz band, a part of which is with the Defence Ministry, should be put up for auction along with two sets of spectrum bands-- 900Mhz and 1800Mhz in February next year.
Earlier, the Defence Ministry had vacated 15 MHz of 3G spectrum which was auctioned in 2010. The Defence had also vacated 15 MHz of 2G spectrum, which was allocated to new operators.
Under the agreement with DoT, the remaining spectrum -- 10 MHz spectrum in 3G and 5 MHz in 2G -- is to be vacated only after the alternate communication network is completed.
DoT is also working on the possibility to get another chunk of 150 Mhz vacated from Defence in 1700-2000 MHz frequency band that can be used for commercial 3G and 4G services.
Sources said that DoT has started working on auction of 3G spectrum in 17 out of 22 service areas.
Prasad, however, did not share if 2100 Mhz band will be put on sale in the proposed auction.
As per estimates, auction of spectrum in 2100 Mhz band in February can fetch bids worth Rs 5,000 crore.