Spectrum auction delayed to June 6, BG & EMD reduced

The Department of Telecom has deferred the spectrum auction by 17 days to June 6, This has been announced in the Amendments made in the Notice inviting Application.

Bank guarantee and guarantee for earnest money deposits have also been reduced. However, the validity of a bank guarantee for earnest money deposit in the form of a bank guarantee is now valid till September 30, 2024, as against December 31, 2024, as proposed earlier. Number of blocks for auction in the 900 MHz band in the West Bengal circle has now been reduced to 44, as against 48 blocks proposed earlier.

Day One of Live auction is now June 6 (earlier it was May 20). By then, the Lok Sabha results will have been announced.

Mock auctions are now scheduled for June 3 (earlier it was May 13 and 14).

The government will auction eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore. All the available spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands are part of the auction. The spectrum will be assigned for 20 years and successful bidders will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual installments. The DoT has provided an option to surrender the spectrum acquired through the upcoming auction after a minimum period of 10 years.

CT Bureau