The Indian government announced a new schedule for the long-delayed auction of 3G mobile frequencies. The invitation to apply for the auction was issued on 25 February, and applications are due by 19 March. The government will announce the qualified bidders by 30 March, and the start of bidding is planned for 9 April. The auction of broadband wireless (BWA) spectrum will start two days after completion of the 3G auction. The auction will cover three or four 3G licences for each of the 22 regional circles. The government has allocated one block of spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai for state-owned operator MTNL and one block in all the other circles for BSNL. The state operators, which have already started 3G services in some areas, will be required to match the winning prices in each circle. Operators will be able to bid on blocks of 2x5MHz in the 2100MHz band for 3G, while the BWA auction will cover two blocks of 20MHz each in the 2.3GHz band in each circle. The reserve prices for the 3G auction start at INR 300 million for rural 'C' circles, INR 1.2 billion for 'B' circles and INR 3.2 billion for the more populated 'A' and metro circles. For the BWA auction, the prices are respectively INR 150 million, INR 600 million and INR 1.6 billion.

source:telecompaper