By IANS,
New Delhi : Minister of Communications and IT A. Raja Tuesday said he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to discuss issues related to third generation (3G) allocation and spectrum pricing.
The process of 3G spectrum allotment will be completed by January next year, Raja told reporters here on the sidelines of a telecom seminar.
“The 3G auction is on schedule. That is why I am going to meet the prime minister and the finance minister today (Tuesday) to discuss the related issues,” he said.
Raja said although the global economy was currently showing recessionary trends, its impact had been comparatively less on telecom sector.
Clarifying his stand on the recent controversies regarding grant of 2G spectrum to new players, he said: “The government’s decision to allot licences to more operators was directed at raising competition, lowering tariffs and enhancing rural tele-density.”
Tuesday’s seminar, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the department of telecom, was a curtain-raiser event for the India Telecom-2008, an international telecom conference to be held here Dec 11-13.