The Empowered Group of Ministers on Telecom today discussed the number of slots operators should be allowed to bid for in the upcoming spectrum auction.
Sources said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has proposed removing restriction on the number of slots that a company should be allowed to bid in the auction for both CDMA and GSM spectrum.
The DoT is of the view that auction would witness aggressive bidding if restrictions on the number slot is removed.
"EGoM discussed the number of slots that CDMA and GSM players should be allowed to bid for. However, no decision could be finalised," a source said.
"Companies whose licences are coming up for renewal will be any way like new players," the source said, adding that there were no demand for spectrum in 1800 Mhz (GSM) and 800 Mhz (CDMA) in the November auction and therefore removal of restriction is the proposal.
"Only procedural matters were discussed," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters after the EGoM meeting.
In the last auction held in November, new operators were mandatorily bid for a minimum of 4 blocks of 1.25 MHz each and a maximum of five for GSM spectrum. It was a minimum of two and a maximum of three in case of CDMA airwaves.
The source said that most of the discussions in the EGoM were around court case related to auction, Supreme Court direction and DoT's preparation for it.
Decision about the fees that is to paid to auctioneer, Times Internet with e-Procurement was approved by the EGoM in its last meeting, sources added.
