After delaying it for what seemed like an eternity, the Government has finally given green signal to 3G spectrum auction. The auction was to be completed last year but it is yet to start.
The Notice Inviting Application (NIA) will be issued by this weekend as told by Mr. A. Raja, Communication and Information Technology Minister. It may be noted here that the NIA outlines the policy guidelines for 3G auction. But there is one more twist to this tale. The auction will probably be completed by May much to the disappointment of the Finance Ministry because without this the budget deficit would further widen.
It is widely being speculated that in most circles three slots would be on sale while a few areas may have enough air waves to accommodate four players.
The Government seems more confident this time around to go ahead with the auction after the Law Ministry’s approval. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Finance Minister, intervened and helped in breaking the ice by convincing the armed forces to vacate spectrum as per a Memorandum of Understanding signed with DoT. But still nothing is certain. DoT will have to lay an optic-fibre cable network connecting key defence installations across the country at a cost of Rs 9,000 crore and then only the defence will vacate 25 Mhz of 3G and 15 Mhz of 2G spectrum.
It remains to be seen that how long the auction will take. The auction which was supposed to be held last year itself, has been postponed several times due to various reasons. The prime reason of course has been the unwillingness of the defence to release spectrum. Earlier in Jan, it was reported that the auction has been delayed until September when the radio airbase will be available. One sincerely hopes and prays that this time the Government is really serious and there is no further deferral.
