Here we go again. India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced a schedule of events, the grand finale of which will be the auction of 3G spectrum in India on December 7th 2009, almost 11 months after the last attempt at the auction was to have completed. The auction of spectrum for Broadband Wireless Access and EVDO will be held two days after the close of the 3G-WCDMA Auction. (Read: Types Of 3G Bidders) The schedule of events: Sep 29: Release of Revised Information Memorandum Oct 08: Deadline for submission of questions for pre-bid conference Oct 12: Pre-bid conference Oct 22: Issue of clarifications, if any Oct 26: Notice Inviting Applications Nov 13: Final date for Applications Nov 18: Publication of ownership details of Applicants Nov 23: Bidder Ownership Compliance Certificate Nov 27: Pre-qualification of Bidders Dec 03-04: Mock Auction Dec 07: Start of the 3G-WCDMA Auction EVDO and BWA Auctions: 2 days after the close of the 3G-WCDMA Auction Payment: Payment of Bid Deposit by Successful Bidders Within 5 calendar days of the close of the relevant Auction Payment of the balance amount: Within 15 calendar days of the close of the relevant Auction As had been announced earlier, the base price for the 3G auction will be Rs. 3500 crores for pan-India (22 Circles) spectrum, up from Rs. 2020 crores that was announced during the last fiscal. 4 slots are being auctioned, and one slot is being reserved for government owned telecom operators (MTNL in Delhi and Mumbai,…
