The Cabinet Secretariat has sought a fortnightly progress report from the Department of Telecom (DoT) on auction of third generation (3G) telephony spectrum, so as to avoid bureaucratic wrangles.
"In order to ensure timely completion of 3G auction, timelines in respect of various activities in accordance with the decisions taken in the eGoM and Committees of Secretaries (CoS) have to be adhered to.
"Therefore, fortnightly progress report may be sent for perusal for Cabinet Secretary... If there is any slippage in achievement/ fulfilling the target, efforts would be made to make up for the loss of time to ensure completion of the work in a stipulated time," a communication from Cabinet Secretariat to Telecom Secretary P J Thomas said.
Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office had also asked the DoT to hasten the auction process.
Yesterday, Telecom Minister A Raja said issues with law, and finance ministries have been resolved on 3G and the government is all set to start the process of auctioning spectrum for 3G mobile services.
"The DoT will issue Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) from the potential bidders by the end of this week," Raja had said, adding that auction of spectrum can take 40-45 days from the date of issuing NIA.
Among the issues that the Cabinet Secretary has set timelines are setting up a dedicated fibre network for armed forces to release spectrum, release of radio waves by defence.