Mukherjee to head ministerial panel on 3G spectrum

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

July 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The growth of India's mobile telephone industry can suffer if the government continues to link the allocation of radio spectrum for service providers to the auction of this scarce resource for third generation (3G) services, experts warn. They also maintain that the policy to allocate additional airwaves based on the number of subscribers with each service provider is outdated and that a pragmatic policy must be unveiled to ensure the robust growth of the Indian telecom industry.

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.

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.

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 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.

December 22nd, 2008 NEW DELHI - Successful bidders for spectrum allocation for third generation (3G) telecom services will also be eligible to get spectrum space for second generation (2G) services, as and when any space becomes available, the Telecom Commission said here Tuesday. 'New 2G spectrum will be allocated as and when it is available.

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.