Raja says 3G auction on schedule; to meet PM, FM
New Delhi, Nov 4 (UNI) Enthusing confidence that the 3G auction will be on schedule despite the global financial crisis, Communications and IT Minister A Raja today said he will meet the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to discuss the issues related to the radio frequency auction.
Earlier, the government had said that it will allocate spectrum for the next generation radio frequency to successful bidders by the end of January next year after holding the auction as planned earlier in the month.
''3G auctioning is on schedule... I will meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to discuss certain issues relating to the auctioning,'' Mr Raja said on the sidelines of ''India Telecom 2008'', without divulging the details of the issues.
Meanwhile, Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura said there would be no delay in the plan to complete the auction by mid-January.
The government had expected to get as much as Rs 40,000 crore from auctioning broadband and 3G spectrum.
However, some of the telecom players have raised apprehensions in raising the money for the bidding due to the liquidity crunch.
When
asked
about
the
expected
realisation
from
the
3G
spectrum
auction
in
the
wake
of
global
meltdown,
Mr
Raja
said,
''once
the
auction
process
is
over,
only
then
we
will
know
what
has
been
the
revenue.''
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