Biggest quantity of spectrum available for auctions: Prasad

Rubbishing charges that the government has kept limited quantity of 3G spectrum to raise prices for the airwaves, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said all airwaves currently available for commercial use have been put on sale.

In an interview with a publication, he said: "In spite of availability constraints, our intention was to make the biggest quantity of spectrum available for auctions so the whole issue of operational problems gets sorted out under a transparent mechanism. I was aware of the concerns in the market about license expiry."

The government would auction five units per circle of high-speed broadband 3G airwaves.

As per media reports, DoT has fixed base price of 3G spectrum at Rs 3,899 crore per megahertz, about 43 percent higher than the rate recommended by sectoral regulator TRAI.

Talking about the swapping of spectrum with the Defence Ministry, Prasad said that an in-principle agreement to swap and actual swap are two different things. "How can the telecom department auction spectrum it doesn't have?"

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a reserve price of Rs 3,646 crore for 800 MHz, Rs 3,980 crore for 900 MHz band pan India excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and J&K and Rs 2,191 crore pan India (excluding Maharashtra and West Bengal) in 1800 MHz band.

The spectrum auction, which is slated for next month, is likely to rake in Rs 64,840 crore (excluding 2100 MHz spectrum) of which Rs 16000 cr is expected to be realized in the current financial year.