Spectrum auction to begin from January 23

The third round of 2G spectrum auction will start from January 23, according to the schedule given in the 'Notice Inviting Application' released by the Department of Telecom (DoT) on Thursday.

The last date for submission of applications by interested companies is January 4, the release said.

It also said the last date for companies to seek clarifications on rules stated in 'Notice Inviting Application' is December 28.

DoT will hold a pre-bid conference on December 20.

Successful companies will have to pay for airwaves 10 days after closing of bidding rounds.

Last week, Telecom Secretary M F Farooqui had said the government will be auctioning around 400 Mhz spectrum in 1800 MHz band and 45 Mhz in 900 MHz band.

He had, however, refused to give a timeline for the auction.

The government is expecting a minimum of Rs. 11,000 crore from the upcoming spectrum auction. It has set a revenue target of Rs. 40,874.50 crore this fiscal year from spectrum, including auction amount, one-time spectrum charge and annual regular licence fee.