The government is set to rake in about Rs 20,000 crore from the second round of
telecom spectrum auction of 1,800 MHz and 900 MHz band, which will go under the
hammer during the ongoing financial year, ending on March 31, 2013.
"At the present base price, we expect to raise around Rs 20,000 crore from the spectrum auction in 1,800 Mhz and 900 MHz," telecom secretary R. Chandrashekhar said on the sidelines of the India Telecom 2012 event here on Friday.
The fresh auction is being held after the earlier 2G spectrum bidding failed completely. Last month's auction brought in a mere Rs 9,407 crore, which was way short of the minimum target of Rs 28,000 crore the government had expected.
Chandrashekhar also confirmed that the same auctioneer would be used for the the second round.
The Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Thursday had approved a 30-per cent cut in the base price of 1,800 Mhz band of 2G airwaves as recommended by the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) for four telecom circles- Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka. These circles did not receive any bids during the auction held last month. Airwaves in these four circles had found no takers as bidders felt the reserve price was too high.
Chandrashekhar said that the base price for 900 MHz band will be twice the reserve price for the 1,800 MHz band, where the auction-determined price is not available. In Delhi and Mumbai, the reserve price of 900 MHz will be twice the reserve price of 1,800 MHz, but in Kolkata, it would be twice the auction (discovered) price of 1,800 MHz. Meanwhile, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Rahul Khullar said that the regulator would soon begin a public consultation process for implementation of free telecom roaming in the country.
"The question of whether national roaming should be free is a tariff-related issue. It is a matter on which Trai is competent to take a decision," Khullar said.
Courtesy: Mail Today
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