3G auction may be delayed further

NEW DELHI: The much-awaited auction of the spectrum for 3G mobile services is likely to be delayed by more than a month and may commence from the first week of March next year. The  schedule of auction is likely to be announced soon, according to a PTI report.

The report, quoting a government official said that the auction process may start in last week of February or the first week of March.

IT and Telecom minister A Raja had recently ascertained that there would be no change in auction schedule and the auction would be held on January 14, 2010, but it seems impossible as the Department of Telecom (DoT) is yet to finalize details of Notice Inviting Applications (NIA).

The government has fixed a reserve price of Rs.3,500 crore for pan-Indian 3G spectrum and Rs.1,750 crore for Wimax, which was expected to add Rs.25,000 crore in the government kitty.

Earlier also the auction dates were delayed twice.