The government will continue to auction telecom spectrum, and the administrative allocation route will be used sparingly, only in those cases where it is technically not feasible to do so or for areas that are strategic in nature, sources said.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) is gearing up to hold the next round of spectrum auction on June 6 for eight spectrum bands (800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz) meant for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore.
The spectrum will be assigned for 20 years and successful bidders will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual installments in the coming mega auction.
Sources asserted that the spectrum for mobile services will continue to be given through the auction process.
As enacted in the Telecom Act, 2023, only very limited and narrowly defined cases, including spectrum for walkie-talkie for police organisations, radar for weather forecasting, radar and communication for ships, communication for space and satellite applications, communication and radar for the Army, Air Force and Navy and state-owned telecom corporation like BSNL, airwaves will be given on administrative basis, sources said.
Of the total allocations, these amount to a minuscule, just 5-7 per cent of the cases.
The government had on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking a modification of the 2012 order. The modification sought was to allow for administrative allocation in select cases where it is not technically feasible to use the auction route. However, for the majority of the spectrum, the auction will continue to be the mode of allocation.
The matter in the Supreme Court is basically an application filed (in the Supreme Court) following the due process before introducing the Telecom Bill in parliament, sources clarified.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Bharti Airtel Pays $1 Billion to Partly Clear 2016 Spectrum Dues Spectrum Auctions See Sale Worth Rs 11,340 Crore, Bharti Airtel Top Buyer Bharti Airtel Buys Airwaves Worth Rs 6,857 Crore In Spectrum Auction The Shocking Reason Hate Preacher Zakir Naik Walked Off Stage In Pakistan "Hit The Nuclear First": Donald Trump's Big Warning To Iran Maharashtra Deputy Speaker Jumps Off 3rd Floor Of Secretariat, Lands On Net 17-Year-Old Mumbai Girl Dies By Suicide, Was Under Treatment For Depression PM Modi In Mumbai Today; Check Schedule And Key Details Here "Hit The Nuclear First": Donald Trump's Big Warning To Iran Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.