TRAI agrees to DoT proposal to raise base price for 3G auction

TRAI has said that it it has agreed to the proposal by department of telecommunications (DoT) for raising the base price for the third generation spectrum (3G) auction.

"We have agreed to the DoT's recommendations that the reserve price should be raised," TRAI chairman Nripendra Mishra today told reporters in New Delhi , adding that the all successful 3G bidders will have to match the highest bid.

DoT had proposed to raise the base price for auction to about Rs2,200 crore for a pan-India licence.

Earlier, the regulator was not in favour of raising the reserve price.

But DoT asked the regulator to reconsider its earlier recommendations that the reserve price of spectrum should not be raised and that new players should not be allowed in the bidding process of 3G spectrum auction.

The minimum bid price for a pan-India licence is Rs1,400 crore for 3G.

However, the regulator has reiterated its earlier stand that no new players be allowed in the bidding process.

"I strongly believe that only the existing licensees be permitted to participate in the auction, but DoT is competent enough to take a final call," Misra added.

But it is believed that the government has already decided to allow new players including foreign ones to take part in the auction and raised the reserve price for pan-India auction.

The regulator added that it has accepted DoT's suggestion of raising the reserve price of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum auction.

 "We have recommended separate price structures for separate circles," he added.