According to the Ministry of Communications and IT, the government will identify the defence band in 45 days and the swapping of spectrum with the defence ministry for commercial uses would take place after the quantum of spectrum in this band is finalised. The ministry added that once the defence band is identified, it would be exclusively used by the defence forces and in turn, would help them to free up frequency airwaves for commercial 3G purposes.

To this end, the defence ministry and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have already reached a consensus for swapping spectrum in the 2100 MHz band in lieu of 1900 MHz band. It is believed that the defence would free around 15 MHz of spectrum in 2100 MHz band for commercial uses.

The government is planning to auction spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands simultaneously in February 2015. It has already approved the reserve prices of spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. However, the Telecom Commission has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to review its recommendations on the reserve prices of spectrum in the 2100 MHz band.