The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is reportedly in favour of a “controlled ascending” auction, to be conducted online for allocating 3G spectrum. First, all players will place their bids. If more than two players place bids above the base price, the auction would continue. After eliminating the lowest bidder, the second lowest bid would become the base price for the next round. This process would continue till two operators emerge as the winners.
The auction would be conducted individually for each of the 23 telecom circles in the country. The base price would be around $40 million for Category A circles; $20 million for Category B circles; and $7.5 million for Category C circles. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed Rs 14 billion as the base price for bidding for a pan-Indian licence.
