DoT says it is speeding up the process of spectrum auction

The DoT on Tuesday said it is expediting the process of conducting the spectrum auction and looked forward to TRAI's final recommendation before May 15.

"We will certainly try to speed up the process which we are already doing," Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar told PTI.

He was reacting to queries on whether the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will be able to complete the auction within the time-frame set by the Supreme Court.

Chandrashekhar added: "We have not yet received the Supreme Court order. We can comment on it only after going through it".

The apex court today asked the the government to complete the process of fresh auctioning of the spectrum by August 31 while extending validity of the cancelled 122 licences till September 7, 2012.

In February, the apex court had cancelled the licences with effect from June 2.

"All steps will be as indicated to the Supreme Court. We will not eliminate any step because all of them are important. We will revert to TRAI by May 2 and try to receive the final recommendations before May 15. It will bring us back on schedule".

He, however, did not indicate any early date for completion of auction.

Government's proposal for a 400-day timeline to complete the auction process has been rejected by apex court.

As per the time-line, DoT was to start the auction from December 20 and allocate spectrum by March next year.

This caused anxiety to telecom companies which would have lost their licences in June.