Biggest sale of telecom spectrum to happen in August this year: Report

India’s next spectrum auction could happen in early August instead of mid-July as suggested by the telecom secretary JS Deepak, according to a Business Line report, which also said that the Cabinet is likely to take a final decision this week on the pricing and timing of the next round of spectrum auctions.

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Ravi Shankar Prasad last month told media that issues regarding spectrum have been addressed, in the coming two to three months, and 2,000 MHz of spectrum will be auctioned. The report added that the Cabinet may clear the pricing of various frequency bands and the related spectrum usage charge as per the recommendations of the Telecom Commission.

The Telecom Commission (TC), in its latest meeting, had proposed a lower, 3% spectrum usage charge (SUC), from the operators’ adjusted gross revenue for all bands. The Telecom Commission’s decision said that the SUC will be calculated using a weighted average formula based on the total spectrum holding. However, the proposal will be limited only to the upcoming auction.

The cabinet will also take a final decision on the 3 percent lower spectrum usage charge (SUC) proposal.

The Indian government is looking to fetch a whopping Rs 5.36 lakh crore from the auction, which will be the biggest-ever auction in terms of value and is more than double the gross revenue of telecom services industry. The major bands include 700MHz and 2500MHz, which will be auctioned for the first time. Other bands include 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2300MHz.