Department of Telecommunications(DoT) on January 6, 2020 issued Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for auction of Spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands.
- The upcoming auction for spectrum will be conducted online. It is termed as Simultaneous Multiple Rounds Ascending (SMRA) e-auction.
- It will be conducted in two stages; Clock Stage and the Frequency Identification Stage.
- Clock Stage: Under this process, the bidders will bid for blocks of spectrum in given service areas/circles.
- Frequency Identification Stage: Under this Stage, specific frequency bands will be determined for the winning bidders.
- Airwaves are also called spectrum which carries signals from cellphone and wireline telephone to connect from one end to another.
- Spectrum is subdivided into bands which have varying frequencies.
- The Government of India owns all the publicly available assets within the geographical boundaries of the country including airwaves.
- All these airwaves are sold for a certain period of time, after which their validity lapses, which is generally set at 20 years.
- The last spectrum auctions were held in 2016, when the government offered 2,354.55 MHz at a reserve price of Rs 5.60 lakh crore.
(Source: Indian Express)
