Dec. 8 – The country’s Department of Telecommunications will hold an auction on January 14, 2010 to sell four slots of bandwidth for 3G phone services and three slots for broadband internet services.

Bidding will start at INR35 billion or about US$758 million for a slot of 3G bandwidth and INR17.5 billion or US$378.8 million for wireless broadband access says The Wall Street Journal. The extra bandwidth will give telecommunications operators the option to offer better services for users who want  mobile phone access to email and video.

The move is part of government efforts to reform the industry by setting market prices. India is the most promising mobile-telephone market in the world given its millions of untapped rural users. The mobile number portability service which allows users to switch service providers without changing their phone numbers will be available next year with prices set at 19 rupees.