3G spectrum auction on Dec 7

The government will hold the much-awaited 3G spectrum auction for GSM operators on December 7 and invite bids from October 26 to November 13. It will hold the auction for EVDO (CDMA version of 3G) and Broadband Wireless Access after two days of the 3G auction. The winners will have to pay their bid deposit amounts within five days of the closure of the auction and pay the balance after 15 days. The Department of Telecom will issue a revised Information Memorandum on September 29. And keeping in view the security concerns, it has asked for publications of ownership details of the applicants along with compliance certificates so that nothing goes wrong at the bidding stage. According to the timetable, aspirant companies would have to submit their ownership certificates by November 23. And before that they will have to give details of their shareholdings by November 18. A pre-bid conference will be held on October 12 and the deadline for submission of questions for the meet will be held on October 8. The DoT will issue clarifications if any on October 22.