NEW DELHI, INDIA: The fourth edition of India Telecom 2009 was inaugurated by Telecom Minister A Raja at Pragati Maidan here today.

During the inaugural ceremony of the event the minister said the 3G auction will be held as per schedule.

"The ministry has not changed the 3G auction date. 3G has to happen because otherwise the entire networks will be congested," a Voice&Data report quoted the minister as saying.

The impending 3G spectrum auction, which was originally scheduled to take place in late 2008/early 2009, was initially delayed due to disputes between the government and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) regarding the spectrum pricing structure.

The DoT announced in September 2009 that it would start the auction on December 7, 2009. However, this was further delayed to January 14, 2010.