2G auctions to take over 13 months: Department of Telecom

2G auctions to take over 13 months

The telecom department (DoT) has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the process of completing the Supreme Court-ordered 2G auctions will take over 13 months, making it clear that it will be unable to meet the four-month deadline set by the apex court for awarding spectrum and licences in place of the 122 permits that were revoked earlier this month.

In a presentation made to the PM and other senior cabinet ministers such as Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid last week, a senior DoT official said the 3G auction process had been completed in 688 days and that it plans to undertake the 2G bandwidth sale in 400 days.

As reported by ET earlier this week, the department will seek the Supreme Court’s approval for extending the deadline for finishing the auction process. Sector regulator Trai is slated to issue its recommendations on the upcoming 2G spectrum auctions within the next 60 days.