The cabinet has approved the Telecom Commission's suggested reserve price of Rs 37.05 billion per MHz for spectrum in the 2100 MHz band for the upcoming auction. Meanwhile, the government has also deferred the last date for submitting application for participation in the auction to February 16, 2015.

The price suggested by the Telecom Commission is 36 per cent higher than that recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Further, the approved reserve price is 11 per cent more than the price paid by the operators in 2010 spectrum auctions.

In the upcoming spectrum auctions scheduled for March 2015, the government will put up a block of 5 MHz in the 2100 MHz band in all the service areas except the Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab circles. The government is targeting realisation of upto Rs 175.55 billion from the sale of 3G spectrum, of which Rs 57.93 billion will be realised in 2014-15.

Besides the spectrum in the 2100 MHz band, the government will auction 103.75 MHz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band, 177.8 MHz in the 900 MHz and 99.2 MHz in the 1,800 MHz band. The auction is scheduled to commence on March 4, 2015.