Government calls pre-bid meeting for 3G spectrum

The government has called prospective private bidders of 3G spectrum auction to attend a pre-bid conference on 23 December, ahead of a planned online auction on 15 January.

"We have called the pre-bid conference on 23 December but some people have asked for a postponement of this date, maybe due to clarification or holiday season'', telecom secretary Sidhharth Behura said, adding, ''As of now, this is the plan. The e-auction date is January 15."

The government has set a reserve price of Rd2,000 crore for all-India 3G licence.  The TRAI also put an administrative charge on the telcos offering 3G service, which would be 2 per cent of the highest bid amount in a circle.

State-run Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) launched India's first 3G service yesterday, while private players, including foreign ones, will have to bid for spectrum to be able to launch the service.

BSNL and MTNL, which have been allotted one slot of spectrum each, will have to match the highest bidder in their respective circles.

As of now, it is still unclear how the 3G spectrum will be allocated to private players. There is also the question of regional imbalance where one state is left out in the 3G service progress.

Existing 2G players, who would also offer 3G services, would have to pay one per cent of their total revenue to the government as part of the revenue share arrangement.