New Delhi, December 16: Auction of spectrum worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore was approved by the Union Cabinet, in the meeting held on Wednesday. A total of 2,251.25 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum would be auctioned in the process that is expected this month, Union Minister for Telecom and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Airtel Starts Refarming 2G Spectrum for 4G Services to Enhance Indoor Coverage.

With the Cabinet issuing the nod, the process to invite applications will begin shortly. The auction is expected to be held in March 2021, the Minister said, pointing that the last auction of spectrum was held four years ago in 2016.

"Cabinet approved auction of spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz frequency bands, for validity period of 20 years. A total of 2251.25 MHz is being offered with total valuation of Rs. 3,92,332.70 crores," Prasad said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended a plan to auction spectrum worth Rs 5.22 lakh crore. However, some of the spectrum frequencies identified by the DoT for auction are being used by the defence ministry and the Department of Space.

According to Jio, spectrum worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore is lying unused with the DoT for auction. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has identified 300 megahertz (Mhz) of spectrum blocks for 5G services. However, the defence ministry and Department of Space (DoS) have made claims for about 125 mhz of spectrum, leaving only 175 Mhz of airwaves for telecom companies.

Trai has recommended base price of proposed 5G spectrum in 3,300-3,600 Mhz band at about Rs 492 crore per Mhz unpaired spectrum on pan-India basis. This comes to around Rs 50,000 crore for 100 Mhz of 5G spectrum required to deliver 5G services.

(With PTI inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2020 05:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).