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NEW DELHI : India invited mobile phone companies Thursday to take part in its long-delayed auction of third-generation (3G) bandwidth and said successful bidders could offer services from September.
The auction set for April 9 and expected to reap the government billions of dollars has been postponed three times due to bitter discord between ministries over such issues as pricing and availability of airwaves.
The telecommunications ministry said three bandwidth slots for 3G services would be up for grabs in 17 telecom service areas, including the high-density New Delhi and Mumbai regions, and four slots in the other five areas.
India, where spectrum is at a premium, had previously said it would sell four 3G licences in most of the country's 22 telecom zones. It gave no explanation for the change.
"3G systems represent the next step in the evolution of mobile cellular communication," the ministry said in its announcement inviting bidders to take part in the sale.
3G, widespread in developed countries, allows mobile phone users to surf the Internet, engage in video conferencing or download music, video and other content at a much faster rate than the current second-generation or 2G service.
Successful bidders will be able offer to commercial 3G service September 1, the government said.
The auction is expected to give an extra fillip to India's mobile industry, already the fastest expanding globally, where scarcity of bandwidth has affected call quality.
India's largest mobile phone operator Bharti Airtel, headed by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, has already said it will bid for spectrum.
Reliance Communications, owned by tycoon Anil Ambani, and Vodafone Essar and Tata DoCoMo, which have overseas backers, are also expected to take part in the bidding war.
The government said the starting price for each slot would be 35 billion rupees (750 million dollars). But analysts expect the bidding to go far higher because of the scramble for spectrum in the crowded mobile market where companies are engaged in a cut-throat battle for market share.
The government will auction bandwidth for broadband wireless access, or high-speed wireless Internet, two days after the sale of 3G bandwidth is finished.
Some estimates have said the two sales could reap 7.6 billion dollars for the nation's coffers. The government plans to use the money to help pay down its fiscal deficit, now at a 16-year high.
- AFP /ls
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