The Government has decided to allot the right to use certain spectrum for 20 years through Spectrum Auction to be conducted next month.
The Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for Auction of Spectrum has already been uploaded by DOT on its website on Monday.
A single auction will be conducted in Simultaneous Multiple-Round Ascending (SMRA) format for 7 bands i.e. 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300MHz and 2500MHz bands together.
The total quantity of spectrum put to auction is 2354.55 MHz. This includes 197 MHz of additional spectrum in 1800 MHz band and 37.5 MHz in 800 MHz band released due to harmonization of spectrum in these bands.
The various stakeholders have been consulted and after publication of this NIA, a pre-bid conference is also planned to be organised by 13th August, 2016 to have further interaction with the stakeholders and answer their queries.
Further bidder has the opportunity to submit its queries by 19th August, 2016 and the department will issue clarification by 29th August, 2016.
The Government believes that this will provide a great opportunity to the existing service providers as well as new entrants. The existing service provider may acquire additional spectrum so as to match international level of spectrum holding.
By Belal Khan
