The government is likely to conduct the third round of spectrum auctions within 70 days of receiving an approval from the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by P. Chidambaram, minister of finance, say news reports.
The EGoM is expected to chalk out a schedule for the auctions shortly. Further, the EGoM will also decide on auctioning 2G spectrum in the 1800 MHz and the 900 MHz bands, as well as unsold CDMA spectrum.
The price of the spectrum is the key factor delaying the third round of auctions. On April 1, 2013, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, Planning Communication wrote to Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and IT requesting him to seek fresh recommendations on spectrum pricing from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
