DoT selects public sector firm to conduct spectrum auction

The Department of Telecom on Friday selected public sector firm MSTC Ltd as auctioneer for conducting the next round of spectrum sale. According to official sources, the DoT has issued the letter of intent to MSTC.

It may take around two months for MSTC Ltd to design and develop software for e-auction of spectrum that may lead to the start of bidding for airwaves in the second half of September or early October, they said.

“MSTC Limited has been selected as auctioneer after it qualified financial bids opened today,” one of the sources said.

The public sector enterprise executed coal auctions in early 2015 that were held after the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of coal mines in September 2014. It is also holding auctions for various central and state government departments.

This is for the first time MSTC has been selected for handling spectrum auction.

MSTC has been able to outbid Tata group firm mjunction services and Ahmedabad based e-Procurement Technologies that had conducted spectrum auction previously.

e-Procurement Technologies handled spectrum auction in 2012, 2013 and 2014 while mjunction was selected as auctioneer for bids held in 2015 and 2016.

—Free Press Journal