Following a Supreme Court order on February 15, the department of telecommunications (DoT) will hold a separate auction for all the remaining spectrum that was freed after cancellation of telecom licences issued to new operators by former communications and IT minister A Raja.
In
November, the government auctioned only limited spectrum as a significant lot was kept aside for refarming.
As a result of the cancellation of the licences, 514.8 MHz of spectrum was freed up, while the government put up only 271.25 Mhz of spectrum for auction.
"The DoT has accordingly decided that a separate auction will be held for the balance of Spectrum in 1800 MHz band in compliance with the direction of the Supreme Court in its order dated 15-2-2013," said a statement issued by the Communications ministry.
"Details are being worked out and a separate NIA in this regard will be issued shortly," the statement added.
SSTL to close ops in 10 circles
New Delhi: About 2 million mobile customers will be affected as Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited, which operates under brand name MTS, stops services in 10 cirlces - Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Punjab. It has asked subscribers in these circles to port out to other telecom operators. In a statement, the company said that it will not participate in the auction of spectrum in these circles.