Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday assured that the auction for third generation (3G) airwaves, which are very important to make high-end services like video conferencing on phones and ultra fast internet for mobiles possible, will be held real soon, putting many concerns and speculations, with regards to the auction's delay again, at rest.

Also, the PM asserted that Mobile Number Portability, a service which lets users change their mobile phone operators but retain their old numbers, will be implemented "early next year".

The Communications Minister had earlier shared that the auction for 3G spectrum would begin from as early as January 14, leading many telecom service providers and officials expressing concerns that the Government would not be able to keep up with the deadline.

"I am happy that the auction of spectrum for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (WiMAX) services will be conducted very shortly. In a reform initiative, the government has decided that this spectrum will be allocated at market-determined prices rather than through administered mechanism", Mr Singh said.

Currently, India has an estimated 500 million mobile phone users, and the number is expected to go up to over a billion users by 2015. In such a scenario, the introduction of 3G is highly important and should be considered a top priority.