Telecom pricing in three weeks: Sibal

The government will finalise in the next three the pricing of the spectrum that would be sold in the second round of auction beginning 11 March, according to telecom minister Kabil Sibal.

Sibal today said the action would be completed, before March-end.

Meanwhile, the apex court yesterday allowed mobile phone operators, whose permits were due to be revoked this week as per an earlier court order, to continue service until it heard the case next on 4 February  (See: SC allows 2G telcos whose licences were suspended to continue services till 4 February), at the request of the  department of telecommunications.

The court also asked the government to explain the price the companies would need to pay for spectrum usage since cancellation of their licences in February last year.

An empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by finance minister P Chidambaram had last week recommended reducing the minimum price for sale of spectrum used by CDMA mobile operators and the unsold airwaves of first round by up to 50 per cent.

Terming the Supreme Court order as "positive", Sibal said all the spectrum pricing issues would be decided before 4 February, when the apex court would hear the matter again.

"I think it's a positive sign and I am sure that just as the previous auction process was completed without any problem the new auctions will also be completed within the time-frame and before the end of March," Sibal told reporters.

The government hopes to raise Rs45,000 crore from the second round of spectrum sale that is scheduled to start from 11 March, even though about 70 per cent of the spectrum remained unsold in the November auction that raised Rs. 9,410 crore, less than a quarter of the amount the government was expecting to raise from the auction.