3G auction issue referred to Group of Ministers

March 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Thursday announced that a 10-member group of ministers (GoM), led by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will look into the auctions of the third generation (3G) spectrum. The GoM will also take a decision on the number of players to be allowed to offer the 3G services in each telecom circle.

January 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Group of Ministers (GoM) to decide the fate of third generation (3G) mobile spectrum auctions will most likely be headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, an official source said Friday. 'The ministers who will be part of the GoM will be decided by Monday.

June 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - No consensus has been reached between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the finance ministry on the reserve price for third generation (3G) radio waves auction, Communications Minister A. Raja said here Tuesday.

July 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The high-powered ministerial group, set up to decide on issues related with the auction of frequency spectrum for third generation telecom services, is scheduled to meet here for the first time later Friday. The mandate of the empowered group, which has been set up under Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is to decide the base price for the spectrum auction and the number of operators to be allowed in each telecom circle for offering third generation, or 3G, services.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has constituted an 'Empowered Group of Ministers' (EGoM) to supervise the spectrum for 3G telephony that will revolutionise the technology through which data is received and transferred from mobile phones. According to reports, there would be nine ministers in the EGoM, which would be lead by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

June 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government will announce the base price for the much-awaited auctions of third generation (3G) radio waves within a week, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja said here Friday.

February 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communications Minister A. Raja Tuesday said the auction of spectrum for 3G services could be completed before March 31, even though issues regarding the licence fee and bandwidth are yet to be decided by a ministerial panel.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Communications Minister A. Raja, who assumed office here Monday, said the auction of third generation (3G) radio bandwidth will be completed by the end of 2009.

August 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - An 'Empowered Group of Ministers' (EGoM), constituted by the Government to supervise the spectrum for 3G telephony, on Thursday fixed the reserve price for pan-India 3G spectrum at Rs 3,500 crore. It also decided to allow only five operators to offer the high-speed mobile services in the first phase, where one existing operator - BSNL or MTNL - in their respective circles will be given the spectrum along with four new operators.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday constituted an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to look into matters concerning third generation (3G) spectrum auctions scheduled to happen this year. The nine-member EGoM will be headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a Department of Telecommunication (DoT) official told IANS.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The communications ministry may expect the auction of scarce 3G spectrum to fetch Rs.30,000-Rs.40,000 crore ($6-8 billion), but the interim budget for 2009-10 has projected no more than Rs.20,000 crore ($4 billion) on that count. 'The budget estimates for 2009-10 include a sum of Rs.20,000 crore as the expected revenue from auction of 3G spectrum,' says the receipts budget tabled Monday by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

June 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The finance ministry has proposed a reserve base price of Rs.4,040 crore for third generation (3G) spectrum auctions and the final announcement could be made in a week, IT and Commmunications Minister A. Raja said Friday.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - It is unlikely that auction of the spectrum for third generation (3G) telecommunication applications will take place before the Lok Sabha elections, telecom secretary Siddharth Behura said Wednesday. 'We cannot talk about 3G spectrum auctions since it is election time and nothing seems to be feasibe currently,' Behura told reporters on the sidelines of 17th Convergence India conference here.

July 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The wait for the auction of radio waves to start third generation (3G) telecom services in India has got longer. A key ministry panel that will take a decision on crucial issues like pricing is scheduled to meet only at the end of the month.

July 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The wait for third generation (3G) telecom services in the country has got longer as the first meeting of a key ministry panel, set up to take decision on the pricing of 3G auctions, has been postponed. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was scheduled to meet July 31.