Spectrum refarming: Firms can keep 2.5 Mhz

New Delhi: The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on the 2G auction headed by Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met on Thursday and decided to go for partial refarming, wherein operators will be allowed to retain 2.5 MHz through an administrative allotment by paying an auction-determined price.

The EGoM also decided that those telcos with 5 Mhz spectrum would need to vacate space. The telecom companies, GSM operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea will have an opportunity to retain 2.5 MHz of spectrum at the time of refarming in the 900 MHz spectrum.

If they do not want to pay a market-determined price, they may choose to surrender the entire spectrum. But, as far as the government is concerned, it is going to give an option to these telecom companies.

This market-determined price will be determined at the time of the auction in the 900 MHz band spectrum, which is likely to be held somewhere in June 2013. But, the licenses of telecom companies will only come up for renewal in 2014 onwards. However, in a press conference Sibal clarified that all decisions taken on Thursday would be reviewed by the Cabinet.