3G spectrum auction on April 9

Bringing huge relief to telecom operators keen on starting 3G mobile telephony in the country,the government today said it will hold...

Bringing huge relief to telecom operators keen on starting 3G mobile telephony in the country,the government today said it will hold the auction for third-generation mobile spectrum on April 9 and the process of inviting applications from interested bidders will start tomorrow.

However,this may douse the governments hope of plugging the fiscal deficit,which is already running at a 16-year high of 6.8 per cent,through proceeds of 3G auction. The auctions are likely to generate Rs 35,000 crore. Now that the date of auction has been announced,details like number of operators in a circle are to be decided upon so that operators can decide if they want to bid for all-India or for a few circles.

Announcing the schedule of 3G spectrum auction,the government in a statement said that the notice inviting applications (NIA) would be issued tomorrow and last date of submitting applications is March 19. The pre-qualification of bidders would take place on March 30 and mock auctions would be held on April 5 and April 6. The auction date for 3G spectrum auction has been fixed for April 9,2010.

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The auction of the much-awaited 3G auction has been mired in controversies in the recent past due to various reasons,prime reason being differences between various government departments over the availability of spectrum and pricing of wireless radio spectrum. However,recently telecom minister A Raja had said that the issues had been resolved. The law ministry last week approved the NIA after the department of telecommunications dropped the clause that said that in case the spectrum wasnt allotted by September 1,2010,the government will have to refund the bid money.

Telecom majors like Bharti,Vodafone,RCom and Tatas have readied their plans for the auction. 3G technology is expected to change the structure of mobile telephony in India with speedy services. 3G users would be able to access high-end data services,including ultra-fast internet and video-conferencing,by next year when the operators roll out their commercial 3G services.