The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to auction more broadband spectrum that will help boost Internet penetration in the country, Telecom Secretary R. Chandrashekhar told journalists here on Wednesday.
“They (the Union Finance Ministry) have asked us to expedite the process (of spectrum auction) and we are certainly working on all the aspects involved. We will have to decide the timing of the auction because we will need to try and auction in a manner in which it gives a nationwide footprint,” Mr. Chandrashekhar said at the National Conference on Broadband.
Notably, the Finance Ministry had written to the DoT twice to go ahead with the auction of wireless broadband spectrum that is likely to garner around Rs.15,000 crore for the government. In last year's fiercely-contested auction of 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, the exchequer had earned over Rs.1-lakh crore. Referring to the growth of broadband in the country, the Telecom Secretary said it would fuel the next round of growth of the telecom and information technology sector. “After the telecom revolution, which helps India to reach around 85-crore telecom subscribers, now it is time for a broadband revolution. It will help the government to reach to the poorest of the population, create new jobs and help in percolating social schemes to the masses,” he said.
