The Indian government has once again delayed the date for radio networks to sign an agreement to move their existing licenses to the new regulations governing Phase III of private FM radio.

The new deadline for the signing of the Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) will be March 31 next year.

The migration deadline has already been moved twice before and Phase III has been delayed several times by the previous Indian government.

The migration will see existing players of the 245 operational FM services move from the current 10 to new 15-year licenses.

The longer licenses have been negotiated players as part of Phase III of private radio deregulation, which will also see 839 new FM frequencies auctioned off across 227 cities.

Existing players can apply to migrate their existing licenses to operate under the new Phase III regulations.

At the same time, they will be able to bid for dozens of new frequencies, up to a maximum of 15 percent of the total private radio market.

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