The Union Cabinet has approved the spectrum auction for telecom services with airwaves amounting to a cumulative reserve price of Rs 963.17 billion. The spectrum will be auctioned in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz and 3,300 MHz, as well as in the 26 GHz bands. The cabinet informed that the reserve prices for various bands have been revised using suitable indexation as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The cabinet has also set up a committee of secretaries to consider re-farming of existing spectrum usages with a view to increasing the spectrum availability to meet the future needs of telecom services. The government announced that expiring airwaves that belong to certain companies undergoing insolvency will also be auctioned. If sold, the spectrum will be valid for a 20-year period.
Additionally, the cabinet approved a proposal for spectrum requirements of rail-based urban/regional transit systems such as the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) in the 700 MHz band for automatic train protection (ATP) systems and operations.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will soon issue a notice inviting applications (NIA) laying down auction rules and processes.
