Raja seeks Finance Minister's intervention on 3G

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The Communication and IT Ministry today requested the the Finance Minister to intervene in the 3G spectrum issue to get the Defence to vacate spectrum.

In a letter to Pranab Mukherjee, telecom minister A. Raja has requested the finance minister to “intervene in the matter so as to enable 3G auctions to be completed during the year”, said media reports.

“Because of the stand taken by the Defence Ministry, which is not plausible and against the decisions of the empowered Group of Ministers there has been slippage in the original schedule of auction," Raja wrote to Mukherjee, according to PTI.

Though there is an MoU between the Defence Ministry and the Department of Telecom with regards to the spectrum vacation, there are still differences over the exact radio frequency that will be released by armed forces.

Meanwhile, the Union Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said India's planned auction of third-generation (3G) wireless spectrum is expected to be completed by the end of December.