Come 2013, and India is most likely to have around 230 million 3G subscribers. The growth of the subscriber base is to be further accelerated by the falling prices of 3G phones in the country. Market statistics say that third-generation handsets are currently available for as less as Rs 2,000.

It is being expected that India will allocate spectrum for next generation wireless networks as planned earlier. Union Minister of Communications and IT A Raja has been quoted as saying that successful bidders would be allocated the spectrum by the end of January after holding an auction. It is being said that the decision is likely to affect all leading telecom operators.

The government might go ahead and charge a fee of 1-2 per cent of mobile operators’ revenue for using additional airwaves and is also likely to levy a one-time charge for spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz. India expects to earn around Rs 50 billion in revenues annually from a higher spectrum fee to be levied on mobile telecom.

Last August, the government had outlined guidelines for a global auction of radio spectrum for 3G and 4G) wireless services, from which it hoped to raise up to Rs 400 billion. By January next, the Chennai circle and India’s north eastern region will see third-generation telecom networks open up.While BSNL would roll out 3G services in these regions, the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), with operations in Delhi and Mumbai, will roll out 3G services in these two metros by December. This would make 3G available in most parts of the country, and will b followed up by launch of the services to other regions later on

The two state-owned operators have been allocated spectrum, with one block released to MTNL in the Delhi and Mumbai circles, while another block set aside for BSNL for the rest of the country. According to sources, MTNL and BSNL have both been given 2×5MHz in the 2.1GHz band.