‘Auction route for spectrum will continue’

New Delhi: The government will continue to auction telecom spectrum, and the administrative allocation route will be used sparingly, only in those cases where it is technically not feasible to do so or for areas that are strategic in nature, sources said.

The DoT is gearing up to hold the next round of spectrum auction on June 6 for eight spectrum bands (800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz) meant for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore. The spectrum will be assigned for 20 years and successful bidders will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual instalments in the coming mega auction.

Sources asserted that the spectrum for mobile services will continue to be given through the auction process.

As enacted in the Telecom Act, 2023, only a very limited and narrowly defined cases, including spectrum for walkie-talkie for police organisations, radar for weather forecasting, radar and communication for ships, communication for space and satellite applications, communication and radar for the Army, Air Force and Navy and PSUs like BSNL, airwaves will be given on administrative basis, sources said.

Of the total allocations, these amount to a minuscule, just 5-7 per cent of the cases. The government had on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking a modification of the 2012 order, to allow administrative allocation in select cases where it is not feasible to use the auction route.