Department of Telecom (DOT) has issued Notice Inviting Applications( NIA) for next spectrum auction to be held from February 25th. Spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz will be put for sale which is expected generate at least Rs 80,840 cores earnings to the government.
Few days ago union cabinet had approved DOT proposal for to auction 800, 900 and 1800 MHz bands and their reserve price. Reserve price were set at Rs 3646 Cr for pan India spectrum in 800 MHz band, Rs. 3980 Cr for pan India(excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta, and Jammu & Kashmir) in 900 MHz and Rs 2191 cr for pan India(excluding Maharashtra & West Bengal) in 1800 MHz band.
A total of 380.75MHz of spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 800 MHz will be available for auction. In which 103.75 MHz will be in 800 MHz band from all circles, 177.8 MHz from 17 circles in 900 MHz band and 99.2 MHz from 15 circles in 1800 MHz band. Details for 2100MHz 3G band will be announced later as per NIA issued by DOT.
The last date for submission of application to participate in auction is set as February 6th. A pre-bid conference will be held on January 13 and pre-qualified bidders will be announced on February 16th. The last day for withdrawal of application is set to February 18th and a final list of approved bidders will be published on February 20th. DOT will also conduct a mock auction on February 23 to 24th before the final auction start day of February 25th.
Mjunction services, a Kolkata based firm was selected by DOT to conduct the auction. Successful bidders are required to pay within 10 days 25% of wining bid amount in case of 900 MHz and 33% of bid amount in case of 1800 MHz. The last auction conducted on February 2014, generated a total Rs 62,162 crore for the government.
The 900 MHz band put for auction is currently held by Airtel, Idea, Vodafone and Reliance in different circles which are set to expire in 2015-16. Bidding will be fierce as the operators need to win back the efficient 900 MHz band or buy additional spectrum in 1800 MHz to continue service in these circles.
