The government will start allotting third generation (3G) spectrum from Wednesday to successful bidders, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone Essar, among others. A senior DoT official, said the allotment of 3G spectrum will start on Wednesday.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had set the deadline to September 1 for allocation of 3G spectrum. The defence forces had already released two slots of 3G spectrum before the auction, while the third was to be released later.
Defence forces have also got a waiver of about Rs 10,000 crore for spectrum charges, which enabled smooth release of the third block of 3G spectrum.
However, DoT is yet to amend the unified access service licence (UASL) for incorporating terms and conditions for offering 3G mobile telephony, according to sources close to the development. After the amendment, the spectrum would be allocated to the winners.
The 3G auction was held in April-May this year and the government earned revenues of over Rs 67,000 crore. A total of Rs1.06 lakh crore was earned from both the 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum auction.
None of the operators was able to bag pan-India 3G spectrum. Seven players had won the 3G spectrum in select circles, while BSNL and MTNL were allotted 3G spectrum pan-India ahead of the auction process. However, both the telecom PSUs had to match the winning bid in the auction.
The defence ministry and DoT are committed to some deadlines on the release of spectrum for 25 MHz of 3G spectrum. This is based on, among other things, the progress of the alternative optical fibre cable communications network being built by state-run telecom major BSNL, which the defence forces will use after they release the spectrum.
The MoU signed between DoT and defence forces for releasing spectrum had a precondition that the spectrum charges for defence should be waived, as they use frequency for national security.
The armed forces had vacated 10 MHz in May and were expected to give out more spectrum to DoT in July and August when orders for equipment would be given out and again when work on the cable begins.
DoT had said the delay in 3G auctions was primarily because of the defence ministry's reluctance to vacate the spectrum. The defence ministry denied the charges saying it could not release spectrum before an alternative communication network was in place.
