The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has released the draft policy on 3G. According to the terms of the draft, DoT has agreed, in principle, with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) recommendation to auction 3G spectrum in blocks of 5 MHz. It has allowed each player to bid for a maximum of two blocks. While new and foreign players will need a minimum of 10 MHz of spectrum to launch 3G services, as they will require additional start-up spectrum, existing companies need only 5 MHz to migrate to 3G. DoT has set the highest base price for 3G spectrum at Rs 2.33 billion for the Chennai circle followed by Rs 2.06 billion, Rs 2.03 billion and Rs 1.7 billion for the Karnataka, Mumbai and Delhi circles respectively.

Earlier, TRAI had recommended that the base price be set at Rs 800 million for Delhi, Mumbai and Category A circles; Rs 400 million for Chennai, Kolkata and Category B circles; and Rs 150 million for Category C circles.