Our coverage of the 2G Auctions is brought to you by OnMobile Global, India’s leading Mobile Value Added Services [VAS] company The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued (pdf) an amendment, modifying several terms in the notice inviting applicants for the 2G spectrum auction happening next month. The changes include: 1. Rollout obligations: - District headquarters: cover at least 10% of the district headquarters or towns by the first year from spectrum allotment date and at least 50% of district headquarters or towns by the end of three years from spectrum allotment date. - Block headquarters: cover in at least 10% of the block headquarters of the licensed service area by the end of three years and subsequently increase it to 20% and 30% in the fourth and fifth year respectively. - Metro: 90% of the metro service areas within the first year from spectrum allotment date. The change in the terms: that licensees who had won spectrum in the November 2012 auctions and those whose licenses has already been amended to include roll-out obligations as mentioned above, will need not undertake this additional roll-out obligation other than what has already been specified as per the amendment issued in June 2013 to their licensees. 2. LTE Bidders Need Not Provide Technology Details: Successful bidders who intend to deploy LTE technology no longer have to provide details of the proposed technology to be deployed. Previously, DoT had mentioned that if bidders are deploying a technology besides GSM/CDMA/WCDMA, they should provide details of the proposed technology to be deployed within one month of obtaining the license.…
