Govt defers auction of spectrum to March 4

New Delhi, January 27 

The government today deferred the telecom spectrum auction by a week to March 4, while the deadline for bidders to submit applications has been extended to February 16.

The changes were uploaded on the DoT website as first amendment in the notice inviting application for spectrum auctions.

Earlier, the auctions were scheduled to start from February 25 and the interested bidders were asked to submit applications by February 6.

The government expects to fetch at least Rs 64,840 crore from the sale of radio waves. This is the biggest auction in terms of base price value of radio waves being put up for sale.

The government has plans to sell 380.75 MHz in three bands — the premium 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 800 MHz. It will also sell 5 Mhz in the 2100 Mhz band, which is used for 3G services, across 17 out of 22 telecom areas.

Though the government has finalised base rates for 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz and 800 Mhz band, it is yet to decide the price for 2100 Mhz band. — PTI