The Department of Telecom of the Government of India has recommended auctioning the 800 MHz band in the next round auctions that are scheduled to be organized during the next year.

The 800 MHz band is used for CDMA services and it found no buyer during the auctions held in November of 2012. There is much lesser demand for CDMA airwaves in the country while operators are struggling to improve service due to the limit supply of spectrum in GSM services in the country.

Experts say that the 800 MHz band is close to the GSM airwaves and thus it can be used by 2G telecom service providers to offer data services. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular have asked the telecom authorities to consider allocating unused CDMA spectrum for GSM services.

They have asked the Department of Telecommunications to consider altering 800MHz airwaves and making them compatible with the 900MHz band that is used for GSM services. Telecom players have cited diminishing interest in the CDMA technology and have been asking for unused spectrum to be transferred to for the overcrowded GSM market in the country.

The DoT has told the Empowered Group of Ministers that the spectrum should also be sold after the reserve price has been reduced.