DoT postpones spectrum auction by 17 days to June 6 due to elections

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has deferred the spectrum auction by 17 days to June 6 as per the amendments made in the notice inviting application for the bids on Wednesday.

The department has also reduced bank guarantee and guarantee for earnest money deposit, in a move to ease liquidity for the bidders.

According to the amendment, the new date for "start of the live auction" has been changed to June 6 -- after the announcement of the Lok Sabha results -- from May 20.

The mock auctions will now be held on June 3 instead of May 13 and 14.

The government will auction eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore.

The DoT has also reduced the number of blocks for auction in the 900 Mhz band in the West Bengal circle to 44 from 48 blocks that were proposed earlier.

The validity of bank guarantee for earnest money deposit (EMD) in the form of bank guarantee will be valid for less period till September 30, 2024 instead of December 31, 2024, as proposed earlier.

All the available spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands are part of the auction.

The spectrum will be assigned for a period of 20 years and successful bidders will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual instalments.

The DoT has provided an option to surrender the spectrum acquired through the upcoming auction after a minimum period of 10 years.