"We are looking to do a spectrum auction every year so that telcos can plan their needs, whether they need to trade it, buy it from someone else or come to the auction. This ensures complete certainty and policy stability, telecom secretary J S Deepak told on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress.

He also said that "we are soon going to send a request to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for recommendations for the next auction, which I believe would be held between July and December. It will be annual auction done every year. How much of spectrum to be sold, the price, newer spectrum bands - all issues will be considered."

Deepak said, "We are not worried if there is no demand for spectrum. We don't get hassled if spectrum remains unsold. But we would like to give the opportunity to the industry to buy spectrum as and when they need."

Bharti chairman Sunil Mittal had said on Monday that he does not see any spectrum sale in 2017-18 as operators had tanked up on the spectrum.

The 700MHz band alone was expected to fetch Rs. 4 lakh crores for the government. On bringing 5G in the country, he said, "we were late in 3G and 4G, so we are keen that we should not be deprived of 5G. It has a wider application for the industry including smart cities and management of grids. So we are keen to be with the world." 

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