Defence frees more spectrum

The defence ministry has agreed to vacate telecom spectrum worth Rs 30,000 crore that will be put up for sale in the auction scheduled to begin in July.

As a result of spectrum swap agreement between DoT and the defence ministry, 15 Mhz of 3G spectrum in each of 22 telecom circles and 201 Mhz of spectrum in 1800 Mhz band would be avai-lable for mobile services.

“The defence ministry has agreed to handover spectrum in 2100 (3G) and 1800 Mhz bands as was requested by the DoT. At base price, the value of spectrum is Rs 30,000 crore,” an official source said.

With this, the total value of airwaves to be put up for sale will increase to Rs 5.66 lakh crore — making it the biggest spectrum auction ever in the country.

The telecom ministry had proposed to exch-ange 15 Mhz spectrum it holds in 1900 Mhz band with same quantum held by the defence ministry in 2100 Mhz band.