<p>New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved auctions in eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of Rs 96,317.65 crore, information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said.</p><p>The Cabinet has approved interim allocation to telecom operators, the minister said.</p><p>Spectrum, held by certain companies undergoing insolvency process, that are expiring this year, will also be put on auction, the minister said.</p><p>All the available spectrum in 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300, 2500, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands will be put on auction.</p>.Cabinet approves six rail projects worth Rs 12,343 cr.<p>"Total 10,523.8 Mhz spectrum will be auctioned. Reserve price will be determined using suitable indexation," Thakur said.</p><p>The reserve price will be Rs 96,317.65 crore.</p><p>"Existing telecom service providers can continue use of spectrum by paying auction-determined prices during the interim period to prevent disruption in telecom services," Thakur said.</p><p>The approval has come just a day before expiry of Bharti Airtel spectrum in five circles.</p><p>Telecom spectrum of Bharti Airtel in five circles is expiring on February 9 and another one in March. Spectrum of Vodafone Idea is also expiring in West Bengal and UP West, for which the company needs permission to continue using the airwaves.</p><p>The cabinet has also decided on re-allocation as well as additional spectrum allocation for the transport system to enhance passengers' safety.</p><p>The government had provisionally assigned 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band for National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).</p><p>The cabinet has decided that the 5 MHz spectrum reserved for NCRTC will be assigned to multiple regional and urban rail-based transit systems and considering the additional requirement for national roll-out of Kavach, additional 5 MHz in 700 MHz spectrum will be reserved for Indian Railways.</p><p>The spectrum allocation for transport systems including railways has been done to improve passenger safety and operations of these transportation systems.</p><p>The Cabinet has decided to set up a committee under the Cabinet Secretary to finalise a plan for re-farming of certain spectrum bands.</p><p>The minister said more than 4.2 lakh base stations have been deployed in 14 months, covering 740 districts.</p><p>He said the world's fastest roll-out of 5G services has been in India and with more than 13 crore subscribers using 5G services, India is now the world's second largest 5G ecosystem.</p>
<p>New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved auctions in eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of Rs 96,317.65 crore, information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said.</p><p>The Cabinet has approved interim allocation to telecom operators, the minister said.</p><p>Spectrum, held by certain companies undergoing insolvency process, that are expiring this year, will also be put on auction, the minister said.</p><p>All the available spectrum in 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300, 2500, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands will be put on auction.</p>.Cabinet approves six rail projects worth Rs 12,343 cr.<p>"Total 10,523.8 Mhz spectrum will be auctioned. Reserve price will be determined using suitable indexation," Thakur said.</p><p>The reserve price will be Rs 96,317.65 crore.</p><p>"Existing telecom service providers can continue use of spectrum by paying auction-determined prices during the interim period to prevent disruption in telecom services," Thakur said.</p><p>The approval has come just a day before expiry of Bharti Airtel spectrum in five circles.</p><p>Telecom spectrum of Bharti Airtel in five circles is expiring on February 9 and another one in March. Spectrum of Vodafone Idea is also expiring in West Bengal and UP West, for which the company needs permission to continue using the airwaves.</p><p>The cabinet has also decided on re-allocation as well as additional spectrum allocation for the transport system to enhance passengers' safety.</p><p>The government had provisionally assigned 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band for National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).</p><p>The cabinet has decided that the 5 MHz spectrum reserved for NCRTC will be assigned to multiple regional and urban rail-based transit systems and considering the additional requirement for national roll-out of Kavach, additional 5 MHz in 700 MHz spectrum will be reserved for Indian Railways.</p><p>The spectrum allocation for transport systems including railways has been done to improve passenger safety and operations of these transportation systems.</p><p>The Cabinet has decided to set up a committee under the Cabinet Secretary to finalise a plan for re-farming of certain spectrum bands.</p><p>The minister said more than 4.2 lakh base stations have been deployed in 14 months, covering 740 districts.</p><p>He said the world's fastest roll-out of 5G services has been in India and with more than 13 crore subscribers using 5G services, India is now the world's second largest 5G ecosystem.</p>