3G auction likely to delay again

3G auction likely to delay again

January 30, 2010

The 3G technology seems to be getting farther away as the auction of spectrum for 3G telephony is likely to get delayed again. The law ministry has suggested the auction be done only after availability of spectrum, which would otherwise create legal complications.

The auction was earlier scheduled to begin on January 14, but got delayed due to uncertainity over the number of slots and unavailability of spectrum.

The suggestion by the ministry might have been prompted by the advice of the legal advisor of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), who said the 3G auction should be conducted for only those slots where spectrum can be allotted by September this year, as the government might lose huge amounts of revenue if the deadline of assigning spectrum is not kept, a senior ministry official said.

DoT had sent the draft notice inviting applications for 3G to the law ministry for approval.

The government plans to take the upfront payment for auction of 3G spectrum within 15 days of the completion of the process, which may create legal hurdles as spectrum would be available by the September 1 this year, according to the law ministry. The winners in the auction may ask for compensation or can go to court if the government is unable to allot the spectrum on time.

DoT has enough spectrum to auction two slots of 3G spectrum, while spectrum for the third slot would be available by September. The defence ministry would vacate the fourth slot by 2013.