New Delhi: Applicants wanting to bid for the FM Phase III and those wanting to migrate have to give details for security clearance by 5 January 2015.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry today placed on its website the format for this.
Apart from the copy of passport, the Ministry wants full details of directors and vacancies if any.
I and B Minister Arun Jaitley has already announced that the e-auction for 839 FM channels in 294 cities is expected to commence before the end of the present fiscal, but will continue over the next three years.
Ministry sources said that the e-auction will be on the lines followed by the Department of Telecommunication in the auction for 3G and BWA spectrum.
At present, 243 Private FM radio channels are operational under the existing Phase-II Policy and the next phase will cover all cities with over one lakh population. At present, just 86 cities are covered by FM, the source said.
The decision relating to Phase III was taken by the Cabinet on 7th July 2011. The Empowered Committee in March last year decided to charge a fee for migration to existing operators who wanted to move to Phase III.
The Government has already appointed an e-auctioneer and also an external monitor to ensure probity.
Additional channels may become available due to the reduced channel spacing to 400 KHz – as recommended earlier this year by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India – after feasibility studies are completed in consultation with competent technical authorities. At present, the inter-channel (frequency) for FM is 800 KHz
