Date:12/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/12/stories/2008071255731500.htm

Business

Auction price for 3G suggested

NEW DELHI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday recommended a reserve (minimum) price of Rs. 60 crore for metros to acquire spectrum for offering 3G and wireless broadband services, for which the Government is likely to announce final guidelines soon.

Suggesting auction mechanism for the allocation and pricing of various spectrum (radio frequency) bands in the range of 2.3-2.4 GHz, 2.5-2.69 GHz bands, and 3.3-3.6 GHz, TRAI said that besides reserve price, the operator would have to give a performance bank guarantee based on the circle, TRAI said.

The reserve price and performance bank guarantee (PBG) would be different for different circles. For metro and ‘A’ category circles, the reserve price and PBG would be Rs. 60 crore and Rs. 30 crore respectively, while it would be Rs. 30 crore and Rs. 15 crore for category ‘B’ circles. For ’C’ circles, reserve price and PBG would be Rs. 10 crore and Rs. 5 crore. For the spectrum bands of 2.3-2.4 GHz, 2.5-2.69 GHz and 3.3-3.4 GHz, UASL, mobile operator and category ‘A’ and ‘B’ internet service providers (ISPs) should be eligible to take part in auction. — PTI