Second round of spectrum auction expected to generate Rs 25,000 crore

Second round of spectrum auction expected to generate Rs 25,000 croreThe next round of spectrum sale which will be held before March 2013, and it generate nearly Rs 25,000 crore for the Government according to the Department of Telecom's (DoT's) new auction plan.

The DoT has plans to put around 24 slots of spectrum on sale. Of 24 slots those, 12 will be in the 1800 MHz bands and the remaining will be in the 900 MHz bands.

Each slot will be of 1.25 MHz and telecom operators will be able to acquire at least four slots. Bidders will be able to acquire up to a quarter of the total spectrum that will be auctioned in different bands.

Under its new plan, the Government has also slashed spectrum's reserve price by 30 per cent in a bid to avoid the debacle that it suffered in the first round of the spectrum auction.

The 15 MHz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band will be put for auction in Delhi at a reserve price of Rs 485.15 crore. While for Mumbai the reserve price for the same has been fixed at Rs 474.92 crore per block.

For the 900 MHz bands in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, reserve prices have been fixed at Rs 970.30 crore, Rs 949.84 crore and Rs 227.44 crore per block, respectively.

The Government slashed the reserve prices for the second round of spectrum auction after operators didn't show interest in the first round of spectrum, due to high reserve prices. Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka circles had failed to receive any bids.