DoT has revised the road map for 3G spectrum auctions.
According to the information memorandum (IM) released by DoT, the auction will begin on January 14, 2010 instead of December 7, 2009, as slated earlier. Successful bidders will have to pay a part of the bid amount within five days of the auction and the remaining within 15 days. The list of companies eligible for bidding will be announced on January 7, 2010. As a cautionary step, the IM has pegged the spectrum auctions on the availability of 3G spectrum with DoT currently. Meanwhile, the communications and IT minister A. Raja has sought finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s help in resolving the continuing differences with the defence ministry over the release of spectrum. The new time-frame given by the defence ministry is June 2010.
