3G standalone winners to get 2G at Rs 1,658 cr?

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The Government of India is mulling whether the 2G spectrum can be offered to stand-alone winners of 3G bidders at the price of Rs 1,658 crore for pan India operations, the amount charged from new players last year, said a PTI report.

Quoting sources, the report said the Department of Telecom (DoT) would issue a clarification with regard to the price of 2G spectrum for stand-alone winners and also their priority vis-a-vis over 300 applications pending with the department.

IT and Telecom Minister A Raja had recently said that the 3G auction, which was postponed on many occasions, would be held as per schedule. The government had set January 14 as the auction date, and said that any entity which holds Unified Access Service License (UASL) or previous experience of running 3G services is eligible for participating in the auction.