DoT increases Airwaves put to auction in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz band

DoT has put additional airwaves to auction in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in select telecom circles.

January 29, 2021 at 11:26 pm

2 minutes read

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) yesterday amended its notice inviting applications (NIA) for Spectrum Auction 2021 increasing the airwaves put to auction in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz band significantly. DoT has put additional airwaves to auction in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in select telecom circles. In all probability this has been carved out by surrendering of excess spectrum held by BSNL in these two bands after its Pan India license got renewed last month.

DoT increases Airwaves put to auction in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz band — **Note: Certain human errors might have crept in during manual compilation of the data, any mistakes/ rectification can be brought to the notice of the Team through the comments section below.**

Table of Contents

900 MHz band – Spectrum Auction 2021

When the initial NIA was released earlier this month, DoT had allocated around 81.4 MHz (paired) spectrum to auction in 900 MHz in all telecom circles bar Rajasthan, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. The amendment has increased the quantum of spectrum put to auction in 900 MHz bands in all circles excluding Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir.

The total quantum of spectrum put to auction in 900 MHz band is now 98.8 MHz (paired) up from 81.4 MHz (paired). The number of spectrum blocks has also increased from 407 to 494. The increase in quantum of the spectrum varies from 0.6 MHz (paired) to 1.2 MHz (paired) on a circle to circle basis. The revised NIA has added 17.4 MHz (paired) spectrum to auction in 87 spectrum blocks in the 900 MHz band.

1800 MHz band – Spectrum Auction 2021

DoT had earlier this month put spectrum to auction in all telecom circles bar North East in the 1800 MHz band. The body has increased the quantum of the spectrum to auction in the 1800 MHz band in certain circles only. The amendment has increased the spectrum put to auction in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Uttar Pradesh (East), and West Bengal.

The total quantum of spectrum put to auction in 1800 MHz band is now 355 MHz (paired) up from 316.5 MHz (paired). The number of blocks has also increased from 1568 to 1775. The increase in quantum of the spectrum varies from 1.8 MHz (paired) to 3.8 MHz (paired) on a circle to circle basis. The revised NIA has added 41.4 MHz (paired) spectrum to auction in 207 spectrum blocks in the 1800 MHz band.

Basil Kannagi Arasu

News Reporter

1659 articles published

Basil keeps an eye on the latest happenings in the Telecom sector. You can find him streaming the Premier League, which he started watching in 2013, in his free time.