The government might hold auctions for the third-generation (3G) spectrum on April 9, but

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successful bidders would be able to roll out services by September 1. The Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) issued by the Department of Telecom (DoT) on Thursday said that the successful bidder would have to deposit the bid amount within 10 days.

The NIA said: “The successful bidder would be allowed to commercially roll out services by September 1. In the meantime, they can take steps to enable launch of commercial operations.”

Three slots in 17 circles, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, would be auctioned. However, there are four slots in five circles Punjab, West Bengal, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The government will auction two slots of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in 22 circles.

Foreign companies would also be able to participate in the April 9 auction. The statement said: “The new entrants must note that this notice does not imply in any way that the bidders, if successful in winning 3G or BWA spectrum and in obtaining a universal access service licence, will also be awarded start-up 2G spectrum.”

On the spectrum charges and tenure of the licence, the document stated that the charges for 3G spectrum would be payable on total adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of 2G and 3G services taken together and the right to use the radio-waves will be valid for 20 years. However, it said revenues from services using the BWA spectrum would not be included in the AGR of the licencee.

“In case of 3G spectrum, if there are two or more licencees holding 3G blocks in a service area, the licencee shall be allowed to retain only one 3G spectrum block and surrender the remaining blocks in that area,” it said.

However, if a further round of auction for 3G spectrum or BWA spectrum takes place within a year from the date of completion of the current round or the relevant auction, the reserve price would be the same as the successful bid amount for the respective service area.