A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Pranab Mukherjee will meet on January 19 to decide on the form of auctioning for FM phase III radio.The GoM would deliberate on whether to opt for the conventional open auction or clock auction model with e-assistance for the next round of FM radio stations.

      "The GoM would meet on January 19. The meeting which was supposed to be held in December last year was cancelled due to the unavailability of the members of the GoM," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

      Sources said soon after the auction model is decided, the I&B ministry will announce the FM-III policy that will throw up about 800 new radio stations in small towns with special focus on border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east.

      The clock auction model was first used in the Spectrum allocation. Generally, in this model, the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price.

     The FM-III policy includes the provision of broadcast of news and current affairs as reported by Prasar Bharati. It also aims to cut down infrastructure costs by 50 per cent.

   

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