New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) The upcoming spectrum auction for mobile services will start on May 20, according to a notice inviting applications released by the Department of Telecom on Friday.
The government will auction eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of Rs 96,317.65 crore.
Spectrum, held by certain companies undergoing insolvency processes, will be put on the auction.
In addition, the right-to-use of frequencies held by telcos expiring this year will also be put on the block.
“The Department of Telecom (DoT) has initiated the Spectrum Auction to augment the existing telecom services and maintain continuity of services. The DoT issued Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) today,” an official statement said.
All the available spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands is part of the auction.
“The cumulative reserve price of the 10523.15 MHz spectrum put to auction is Rs 96,317.65 crore,” the statement added.
The DoT has fixed April 22 as the last date for submission of application and it will release the final list of bidders on May 9.
The spectrum will be assigned for a period of twenty (20) years and successful bidders will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual instalments, duly protecting the NPV at the interest rate of 8.65 per cent.
The DoT has provided an option to surrender the spectrum acquired through the upcoming auction after a minimum period of ten years.
This is the second spectrum auction after telecom reforms that were put in place in September 2021. Therefore, like the previous auction held in 2022, there will be no spectrum usage charges (SUC) for the spectrum acquired in this auction.
Successful bidders will not be required to submit a financial bank guarantee (FBG) and performance bank guarantee (PBG), the statement said. PTI PRS PRS BAL BAL
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