India takes the EU route in 3G spectrum licenses

Sufia Tippu
Thursday, 28 September 2006 21:20

IT Industry - Market

The Indian government is set rake in a few billions through the auction of 3G spectrum.

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Cellular operators will have to shell out over $230 million each as a reserve price to participate in the bidding process for allocating nationwide spectrum to offer 3G services, which enable high speed access of data, video, graphics and music on mobiles.

Add the bid amount and this would shoot up even higher, perhaps making the services costlier when they are launched next year.

Communications minister Dayanidhi Maran said the policy, based on telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) recommendations, would be finalised within three months, implying that India would see the launch of the much-hyped 3G services within a year.

Releasing recommendations on allocation and pricing of spectrum, TRAI said 3G services would initially be offered only in three bands: 450 MHz (for one operator), 800 MHz (two operators) and 2.1 GHz bands (five operators).

The reserve price will vary from $3-18 million depending on telecom circles (service areas), which are divided into A, B and C categories.