Government expects just half the revenue projected from 3G auction

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.

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.

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.

January 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The much-awaited radio frequency auction for third generation (3G) telecom services is likely to be delayed further and a new timeframe will be notified after the cabinet takes a decision, a government official said Thursday. The auctions of 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum were scheduled to start Jan 30, but an official of the Department of Telecom (DoT) said the schedule has been revised.

January 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The auction of third generation (3G) mobile services, which are slated to take place according to the revised time schedule, may be further delayed as the industry still is not ready. 'The government is ready for the auctions but it is the industry players who demand more time from us,' a Department of Telecom (DoT) official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

September 6th, 2009 LONDON - Former US Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin is taking part in a charity event to help support wounded war veterans. According to reports, the charity event includes an auction and the highest bidder will get an opportunity to have dinner with her.

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.

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.

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.

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.