Cabinet Approves Next Round Of Spectrum Auctions; 5G Excluded
The Digital Communications Commission in May had approved the spectrum auction plan subject to the cabinet approval.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal for the auction of 2,251.25 megahertz of spectrum worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore at the base price.
The telecom ministry plans to issue a notice to invite bids in December and hold the spectrum auction by March, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The government will put on auction 2,251 MHz of spectrum in the frequency bands of 700 MHz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 2,100 Mhz, 2,300 Mhz and 2,500 MHz, Prasad said.
The government, however, has decided not to auction frequencies in 3,300-3,600 Mhz bands that were identified for 5G services.
"The notice inviting application shall be issued in this month and by auction will be conducted by March," Prasad said.
The Digital Communications Commission, the apex decision making body of the Department of Telecom, in May had approved the spectrum auction plan worth Rs 5.22 lakh crore which included radiowaves for 5G services as well.
According to Reliance Jio, spectrum worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore is lying unused with the DoT for auction.
The telecom ministry gets an average revenue share of around 5% as spectrum usage charge from telecom operators which is calculated based on their spectrum holding of companies and 8% as licence fee from the revenue earned by the companies from sale of communication services.