New Delhi: The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has agreed to vacate the 700 MHz band for fourth-generation (4G) services, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said Monday after a meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to discuss vacation of spectrum. "I&B has agreed to vacate that band. Vacation of the spectrum by Ministry of Defense will be resolved by next week. An alternative network for Defense forces has been resolved," Sibal told reporters. The I&B ministry will be vacating 700 MHz band while the defense ministry is expected to vacate 1,700 MHz to 2,000 MHZ band. The government is committed to carry out the auction of 4G bandwidth before March next year. The 700 MHz band is said to be the most efficient and cost-effective frequency band for delivering wireless broadband. The telecom ministry has also agreed to set up an alternate communication network for defense based on optical fiber network. According to an agreement earlier signed between the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Ministry of Defense, the armed forces had agreed to vacate 25 MHz of 3G spectrum and 20 MHz of 2G while DoT would set up dedicated network for the use of defense forces. However, the project was stuck owing to financial constraints. The forces use troposcatters as primary means of military communications and thereby occupy huge and expensive 2G and 3G which could otherwise be used for civilian wireless communication network. The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was also attended by Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Defense Minister A.K. Antony.