Network OperatorsDoT and defence ministry finally come to agreement on spectrum swap

DoT and defence ministry finally come to agreement on spectrum swap

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Defense Ministry appear to have resolved the previously reported spectrum swapping issue considering that an auction of air waves has been announced for February 23. The DoT had earlier revealed the need for putting the spectrum in the 2100MHz band which is being held by the latter under the hammer or face a shortage problem.

Less than three weeks ago, major telecom operators in India including Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone had requested the authorities to hold off the February auction citing inadequate availability of spectrum. It certainly looks like the DoT has solved the difficulty seeing as it has chosen to go ahead and keep to the schedule, more or less.

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Apart from the air waves in the 2100MHz band which will be given up by the Defense Ministry, three other sets will also be up for grabs. These categories of spectrum cover CDMA service providers’ 800MHz band that is not being used as well as the 900MHz and 1800MHz ones being utilized by Reliance, Vodafone, Airtel and Idea for 2G.

Related post: DoT looks to develop separate defense band to deal with spectrum crunch

February 23 could be the date starting from which bidding proposals will be accepted. The winning parties may be required to make the payment of the final price within 10 days after the auction ends. The Economic Times reports an unnamed official as saying that the notice inviting applications would be sent forth on December 26.

A special DoT committee is supposedly considering the possibility of selling spectrum in the most expensive 700MHz band too, as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The government might be able to earn Rs 9355 crores from auctioning off air waves in just the 800MHz, 900MHz and 1800MHz bands.

Also see: Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance seek postponement of telecom spectrum auction

But the biggest bit of income from the auction might be squeezed out of the Defense Ministry’s 2100MHz chunk of 3G spectrum which is expected to be worth Rs 5000 crores.

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