The telecom ministry has referred the matter of number of 3G spectrum slots in each circle to the Finance Ministry.
Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura is learnt to have made a request to the Prime Minister's Office to convene a meeting that will include PMO, DoT, telecom regulator TRAI and finance secretary to resolve the controversy over spectrum allocation and pricing. He said the department is in dialogue with the ministry of finance regarding certain issues relating to guidelines for auction of 3G spectrum and pricing of 2G spectrum.
The Delhi high court on Thursday refrained from stopping the spectrum allocation exercise initiated by the government, but said the distribution of frequency depends on the final outcome of the petition filed by GSM operators grouping COAI.
Amid reports of a possible delay in release of spectrum by the defence forces, DoT is going ahead with regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendations on auctioning the airwaves with a reserve base price.
Falls way short of the Rs 40,000-cr target for the year Bharti makes upfront payment Vodafone, Telewings go for deferred scheme
The government on Tuesday exuded confidence that revenues from sale of spectrum for 3G telephony and broadband may touch Rs 50,000-55,000 crore (Rs 500-550 billion), beating the budget estimates of Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion).
The Finance Ministry had written twice to the DoT to immediately auction wireless broadband spectrum.
To speed up the vacation of additional 2G and 3G telecom spectrum, the government will likely make a Rs 5,000-crore (Rs 50 billion) provision in the Budget for an alternative network for defence services. The spectrum released in lieu of that would increase the availability for civilian use.
The group also said that the companies will have to pay a market price if they merge or acquire another company, which was allocated spectrum at old price of Rs 1,658 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
Former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie on Friday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 2G case and said the real issue involved kickbacks and not the policy pursued for spectrum allocation.
Government expects to fetch at least Rs 64,840 crore
"The CAG's office and Department of Space have already issued statements stating the factual position on the matter. It is further clarified that no decision has been taken by the government to allocate space segment using S-Band spectrum to ANTRIX or Devas. Hence, the question of revenue loss does not arise and any such reports are without basis in fact," the PMO statement said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have left it to telecom minister A Raja to resolve the tangle over allocation of spectrum, an issue that has brought industry bigwigs like Reliance Communications' Anil Ambani and Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal face to face.
Mittal, Ruia and former Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh appeared before Special CBI Judge O P Saini and the court adjourned the matter in pursuance of the order passed by the Supreme Court on April 18.
The dry-run for roll-out of 3G mobile services is finally taking off, as the government has provided low-power spectrum to GSM players like BSNL, MTNL, Bharti and Hutch to carry out interface check on a non-commercial basis.
43 rounds of bidding has taken place.
The government is looking at reworking on the current spectrum policy to ensure efficient management of the radio wave.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
The EGoM decided to auction a minimum of eight blocks in all service areas after reserving spectrum for refarming against the allocation of 900 MHz for incumbent operators whose licences will expire during 2014-2016.
Ahead of the 3G spectrum allocation process, the government would invite request for proposals for rolling out mobile number portability. Government had recently announced the guidelines for 3G spectrum and MNP, and had allowed foreign players to take part in the next generation telecom space.
Even as the dust settles on one election, glory in Thiruvananthapuram has come with a new question on the horizon: Who will be UDF's candidate in the next Lok Sabha election given Shashi Tharoor has said 2024 would be his last? It isn't a vacancy that can be easily filled, points out Shyam G Menon.
Indicted in the draft JPC report, former Telecom Minister A Raja on Monday hit back maintaining that "every major decision", including entry fee and non auction of spectrum, was taken after consulting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee.
The government has taken steps to ensure availability of spectrum and its allocation in a transparent manner, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday while expressing confidence the months of tough challenges faced by the sector is coming to an end.
All-rounder Rachin Ravindra continued to bolster his reputation with three for 33 as New Zealand reduced a weakened but battling South Africa side to 220 for six on the first day of the second Test at Seddon Park on Tuesday.
The government will in next three weeks decide on pricing of spectrum that will be sold in the second round of auction beginning March 11, Telecom Minister Kabil Sibal said on Tuesday.
Andimuthu Raja's love for poetry is believed to have got him close to Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam supremo M Karunanidhi for a blazing political career but the script went awry in a rare case of a former union minister having to undergo the ignominy of arrest consumed by the 2G Spectrum scam.
It expects Rs 39,895 crore from it.
The refusal to auction 2G spectrum ensures that the debate over Trai's recommendations will centre on whether one group was favoured over the other in the past and whether one wrong justifies another.
This is the spectrum held by incumbent GSM operators whose licences are coming up for renewal in November 2014
Home Minister P Chidambaram was on Friday appointed the head of the Empowered Group of Ministers on spectrum auction that was reconstituted after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar declined the job.
Tatas' suggestion for auction stirs up hornet's nest.
Telecom Commission says refarm all spectrum in 900-MHz band to 1,800-MHz band operators.
The latest row -- termed as independent India's largest financial scam -- is centered on the allocation of scare 2G spectrum at throwaway prices.
'If you are going to have only a handful of telecom players on whom the entire dream of Digital India rests, it's important they are financially sustainable.'
The Maldives former deputy speaker Abdulla said the remarks by the minister are "simply shameful, racist and intolerable."
The government on Thursday appointed a one-man committee of retired Supreme Court justice Shivaraj V Patil to probe the alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum since 2001, a period involving the NDA regime.
The Finance Ministry, which is under immense pressure to meet the fiscal deficit target during the current financial year, has also written a letter to the department of telecommunication to auction spectrum to earn additional revenues.
