The Telecom Commission has finalised the reserve price of the spectrum in the 2100 MHz band for the auctions scheduled for February 2015.  The commission has approved a pan-India reserve price of Rs 37 billion per MHz of spectrum in the 2100 MHz band. The reserve price is 36 per cent higher than Rs 27.20 billion recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The commission’s decision will now be placed before the Ministry of Communications and IT for the final approval.

Further, the Telecom Commission has also decided to put up only 5 MHz of spectrum in the 2100-MHz band for sale in the forthcoming auctions, as against the telecom regulator’s suggestion of auctioning 20 MHz of spectrum. According to the commission, sale of 5 MHz of spectrum in the 2100 MHz band would result in the revenues of Rs 185 billion for the government.

Earlier, the Telecom Commission had asked TRAI to review its recommendations on the reserve prices of the spectrum in the 2100 MHz band for a review. However, TRAI reiterated its recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications.