Indian 3G spectrum Auction Unlikely Before Elections

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought a response from the government on auctioning of radio frequency for next generation mobile services, better known as 3G. A division bench headed by the Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to file a response by Jan 24.

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.

March 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Thursday named External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee - seen as the man for all reasons - as the head of a group of ministers (GoM) formed to suggest the base price for third generation (3G) radio spectrum, giving hope that the auction may still take place before elections. The GoM will not only decide the minimum bid amount for the scarce radio frequency, but also the number of players who can offer the next generation mobile phone services in each circle, officials said.

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.

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.

August 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India raised reserve prices for auctions of third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) radio spectrum by nearly three-quarters on Thursday. Union Telecommunication Minister A.

September 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharti Airtel, the country's largest telecom operator in terms of subscribers, Wednesday said it will launch third generation (3G) mobile telephony services by October 2010. "If everything goes well on time with regard to spectrum auction, by February or March we should receive spectrum allocation, Bharti Airtel chief executive Manoj Kohli told reporters on the sidelines of a telecom conference here.

January 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a move that will delay the launch of third generation (3G) mobile telephony in India, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) has referred the issues relating to spectrum auction to a Group of Ministers, the government said Thursday. 'We are looking for an early decision from the Group of Ministers,' Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, told reporters here.

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 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 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government expects to raise as much as Rs.35,000 crore ($7.2 billion) from auction of third generation (3G) spectrum, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Monday while presenting the budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha. The estimated figure, included in the receipts from the "other communications services" category in the budget, is higher than what Communications and IT Minister A.

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 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 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, A Raja has said that the prospects of the further lowering of telephone tariff in India are imminent in the future. He said this while assuming his charge of the ministry here on Monday.

March 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India may lose up to $13 billion in revenues by 2012 if the third generation (3G) spectrum is not allocated soon to telecom operators, an industry lobby said Monday. 'The telecom industry is losing a revenue of $3 billion each year on account of delay in spectrum allocation,' Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) Communications Convergence Committee chairman C.S.