The much awaited 3G Wireless Spectrum Auction in India has been delayed. According to the DoT officials, the main reason for the delay in releasing the memorandum of information was difficulties on making out the availability of the 3G spectrum which had made it difficult to plan the necessary schedule.
However, the difficulties in finalizing the spectrum availability have stemmed from the disagreement between the DoT and the defence establishments. Defence ministry has in fact told the DoT that it would be in a position to release the 20 Mhz of spectrum it had promised earlier only in June 2010 instead of December this year, as was planed.
What it also means is that even if the DoT goes ahead with the auction with a little bit delay, say for example in January, the successful players in the auction may have to wait for months before they could be awarded the spectrum and could start their services.