The Department of Telecom (DoT) will declare on March 29 the names eligible applicants, who can participate in the auction for 3G and wireless broadband spectrum, after scrutinising the initial applications put in by 20 telecom and other players.
"The process of scrutinising the applications is on. We will announce the eligible applicants on March 29," a senior DoT official, who is part of the process said.
Nine players have submitted their applications for pan-India 3G spectrum, which will begin on April 9. In addition, the DoT has received 11 applications to participate in the auctions of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, making for a total of 20 applications.
The auctions have attracted most of the 2G players -- Aircel, Bharti, Etisalat, Idea, Reliance Telecom, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone and Videocon Telecom. Foreign telcos, however, skipped the process.
The BWA list has four new players -- Augere, Tikona Wireless, Infotel Broadband Services and Qualcomm -- while Spice is making a comeback into the telecom space.
The reserve price for pan-India 3G spectrum is Rs 3,500 crore and for BWA auctions, the reserve price is Rs 1,750.
