After repeated instructions from the Hon’ble Supreme Court and recommendations from every corner, the Department of Telecom just a while ago has put a Notice inviting Applications for the 1800Mhz and 900Mhz Telecom Spectrum Auction in India. All the Spectrum Auctions will be liberalized [Technology Neutral] and can be deployed and used for Voice / Data services.
Overall the DoT has put a massive 403.2 Mhz of Telecom Spectrum in the 1800Mhz band across various telecom circles in India. The following Chart shows that in at least 9 of the 22 Circles contiguous 10Mhz Block of Spectrum is available in the 1800MHz Band thus making 4G-LTE Data Services Practically feasible for any operator who wants to deploy the same. In 17 of the 22 Circles, at least 1 Contiguous Block of 5MHz in the 1800MHZ band is also available which is also good for High Speed Data Services. [Bidders bid in Multiple of 200Khz Blocks] The current
1800MHz spectrum availability indicates that multiple incremental high speed broadband deployments in the 1800MHz is possible in the future.
The DoT is also auctioning 900Mhz Spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. In Delhi and Mumbai 1 Block each of 10MHz and 1 Block of 5Mhz is available in the EGSM Band which is also suitable for High-speed Mobile Broadband Services. With 3 blocks of 5MHz each, market fears of over‐bidding in the 900MHz band for data are unfounded.
The Auction Begins on 23rd January, 2014 and is likely to be completed soon as we do not expect any surpises from new operators with bleeding balance sheets. Stay tuned for More updates.
Im a big fan of yours articles.and wanted to know that the spectrum issued to 2g mobile operators(startup spectrum) before the auction process was started in india, was it a contigious spectrum issued or the non contigious one.
Mixed of Both. If they were within the First 2 or 3 operators to be allotted spectrum then that 4.4 MHz was contiguous and later spread between 900Mhz and 1800Mhz bands. That is why Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are bidding in this Auction so that they can surrender the previous spectrum as even it will carry the same cost.