Almost all the incumbent telecom players, including Bharti Airtel, Idea, Vodafone, Tata Tele, Airtel, attended the conference organized by DoT on Thursday in the run-up to the next round of 2G auctions, but international mobile phone major kept away from the pre-bid conference.

The pre-bid conference kicked off the process for the second round of 2G auctions. But, Thursday's conference remained a low-key affair, particularly when we compare it with the passion seen in the pre-bid conference in the run-up to the 3G auctions in 2010.

Telecom representatives sought answers for their queries. They queried regarding the sort of licence that would be issued, computation of the spectrum usage charges, and estimates of the rollout obligations.

Sadhana Dikshit, member finance at DoT, said that the competition would be tough at the spectrum auction. He also made it clear that the information memorandum should not be taken as a legal document at the time.

Speaking on the topic, "We have made it very clear that the information memorandum is not a legal document at the time. After we have all the clarifications, then it becomes a firm document. The NIA is the firm document."

Telecom representatives also raised concerns regarding high reserve price.

The conference answered queries regarding several complicated issues, but representatives of telecom firms were also asked to attend next conference, which is scheduled for September 14th, for further clarity.