Government All Set for Spectrum Auction Starting March 4

Eight telecom operators, including Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm, have submitted applications to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction starting March 4. Mukesh's brother Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications has also applied. The other operators are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Tata Teleservices, Uninor, Idea Cellular and Aircel, according to an official source.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has selected Kolkata-based mjunction services for conducting the upcoming spectrum auction.

The auction will take place between between 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, including public holiday Holi (March 6).

The other telecom operators who are not participating in the auction are Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd, which provides services under the brand name MTS, Videocon Telecom and state-owned BSNL and MTNL.

The total spectrum put to auction is 103.75MHz in 800MHz band, 177.8MHz in 900MHz band and 99.2MHz in 1,800MHz band - a total of 380.75MHz in 800, 900 and 1,800MHz.

The government will also put on sale 5MHz in the 2,100MHz band, which is used for 3G services in 17 out of 22 telecom areas.

The reserve price approved is Rs. 3,646 crore pan-India per MHZ in 800MHz, Rs. 3,980 crore for 900MHz band pan-India; and Rs. 2,191 crore pan-India in 1,800MHz band.The government also approved a reserve price of Rs. 3,705 crore per megahertz for third generation services.

According to reports, the government expects to mop up Rs. 75,000-Rs. 100,000 crore from the auction.

In December 2015, seven licences each of Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications, four licences of Bharti Airtel and six licences of Vodafone will complete their 20-year term after which they have to be renewed. In total, there are 29 licences in 18 service areas which expiring in 2015-16.