Well if the DoT and the Government had stuck to its promise the above date of 7th December would have been the actual roll out date for 3G across all operators but (sigh!) promises are meant to be broken. WATBlog has tracked the 3G auction saga very closely and we have informed you each time the auction has been delayed, delayed, delayed and again delayed! and even more delay! Phew! So much delay made us question if the government realized the importance of 3G?
So much delay that we did one of our most detailed posts on the 3G Saga (must read if you ask me!). Finally recently the 3G auction base price was fixed at 3500 crores. This meant that an auction date would be announced soon.
Now a New Auction Date Is Fixed
The new auction date fixed is 7th of December 2009 (yes it was to be in 2008 now its 2009! iPhone 3G has come and gone and now its iPhone3GS!). The government will issue a notice inviting applications from interested bidders on Oct. 26, with the final date for receiving the applications set for Nov. 13. The pre-qualification stage for bidders has been set for November 27th. The successful bidders will be required to pay the bid amount within 15 days after the auction.
Lets hope this time around the auction does go through. Operators have already started planning a 2010 launch for the service. Though 3G currently is getting a poor response and some feel that the service is overhyped we still feel that once the rollout happens it will open doors for content and vas players in the mobile scene. What’s your take? How would 3G rollout affect Indian mobile space?
