The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to recommend the reserve price for spectrum in the 900 MHz and the 1800 MHz bands for circles where licences are set to come up for renewal in 2015-16.
As many as 29 licences held by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications are set to come up for renewal in 2015. Since, the government has decided not to extend the licence period beyond the initially set 20 years, these operators will have to buy back spectrum through the auction if they want to continue offering services. Operators were awarded these licences in 1995 for a period of 20 years.
Over 200 MHz of spectrum is expected to be freed up once the licences held by these players expire in 2015-16. A majority of this spectrum is in the 900 MHz band.
DoT wants to conduct the auction at least 18 months in advance to allow the operators enough time to plan their services rollout strategy.
