Stalemate on 3G spectrum continues; FM meets Raja, Antony

New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) The auction of 3G (third
generation) licences could be delayed, as the Indian Defence
Ministry is firm that it does not have any idle spectrum to
vacate as being claimed by the Indian Department of Telecom.
India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Telecom
Minister A Raja and Defence Minister A K Antony yesterday in
an effort to resolve the issue, highly placed sources said,
adding that there was no consensus on the spectrum slots to be
auctioned.
"DoT has said that they have 3G spectrum but the Ministry
of Defence is not accepting it, as they are saying the radio
frequency is being used by them and cannot be vacated," senior
DoT officials said.
The meeting, chaired by Mukherjee, was also attended by
Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Sam Pitroda, Advisor to
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on infrastructure, innovation
and information and telecom, defence and finance secretaries,
they said.
Mukherjee, Raja and Antony are likely to meet again
tomorrow. This, however, could not be confirmed.
Pitroda is understood to have made a presentation and
submitted a working paper on different frequency bands which
can be vacated by the defence, but the latter was not
convinced, they said.
The auction of 3G spectrum was scheduled to commence on
January 14 next year and the government has estimated a
revenue of about Rs 35,000 crore from sale of spectrum in the
current financial year. MORE PTI