India’s communications minister Andimuthu Raja has confirmed earlier reports that completion of the country’s long-awaited 3G spectrum auction has been delayed until the New Year. According to a Telecom Tiger report, Raja confirmed that the auction would be completed by January 15 – around a month later than scheduled – with winning bidders required to make payment by January 31. No official reason was given for the delay but Telecom Tiger suggests that a series of amendments have had to be made to ensure that all interested parties are happy with the process. 

According to previous reports, India’s Department of Telecommunications (DOT) is making 60MHz of national 3G spectrum available that will be compatible with both GSM- and CDMA-based 3G technologies, and may issue as many as ten licenses. State-owned operators BSNL and MTNL have already each been awarded a block of 5MHz spectrum in the 2.1GHz band ahead of the auction for privately-owned operators, though both will eventually be required to pay a license fee equivalent to the highest price paid in the private auction. BSNL and MTNL are also currently trialing 3G services and are planning to go live before year-end.