Next round of spectrum auction to start from Feb 25th says Department of Telecommunicatons

The next round of spectrum auction in 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz will start from February 25, it was announced here Saturday.The Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for auction of spectrum in 2100MHz, 1800MHz, 900MHz and 800MHz bands was issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Friday, an official statement said.The total spectrum put to auction is 103.75MHz in 800MHz band, 177.8MHz in 900MHz band and 99.2MHz in 1800MHz band — a total of 380.75MHz in 800MHz, 900MHz and 1800MHz.The details of 2100MHz bands would be announced later, it mentioned."Validity of spectrum in this auction shall be 20 years. There is also option of deferred payment. The auction format is simultaneous, multiple-round, ascending auction," the statement said.The last date for submission of application by the telecom service providers is February 6.The cabinet Monday approved the proposal of the DoT to proceed with auction in 800MHz, 900MHz and 1800MHz bands and finalised its reserve prices."The reserve price approved is Rs 3,646 crore pan-India per MHZ in 800MHz, Rs 3,980 crore for 900MHz band pan India excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Jammu and Kashmir; Rs 2,191 crore pan India (excluding Maharashtra and West Bengal) in 1800MHz band," the statement said.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 should be renewed.The estimated revenues from this auction are Rs 64,840 crore (excluding 2100MHz spectrum) of which Rs 16,000 crore is expected to be realized in the current financial year (2014-15).The revenue target from spectrum auction set by the government in the 2014-15 budget is Rs 45,471 crore.IANS