Telstra, Optus and Google have urged the government to set a firm date for the sale of radio frequency spectrum that will be vacated in the switchover to digital television, the Australian reported this week.

The government yesterday released submissions from public and private industry about how the government should handle the sale of broadcast spectrum - its so-called "digital dividend".

The government said it received more than 100 submissions.

The government plans to auction off a large chunk of the spectrum - a 126MHz block from the 700MHz band - after the switch from analog to digital television. Another slab of spectrum in the 2.5GHz band - currently used by media companies for electronic news gathering - is also under consideration for sale.

It is expected that the sale could reap more than $1 billion for the government. The equivalent spectrum in the US was auctioned off for $US19bn ($21bn). Both blocks are being keenly eyed by the nation's telcos which require the spectrum for the development of high-capacity and super-fast 4G mobile networks - and the telco sector can't wait until it is on the auctioneer's block.

In its submission Optus - along with the likes of Google, Ericsson and Telstra - said that mobile telephony and mobile broadband would be the most productive use of the allocated spectrum. But the telco warned that uncertainty about the timetabling of the auction and any potential delay would seriously affect the telco industry's willingness to invest further in mobile networks.

"The mobile broadband policy settings are not finalised with Optus and industry investment planning processes stalled awaiting certainty about the government's approach to spectrum," Optus said.

Telstra also called for certainty about an auction date, saying the process must occur no later than 31 December 2012, prior to government's scheduled shut off of analog television in 2013. "Spectrum is critical for mobile communications. Without sufficient and suitable spectrum services the quality and capacity for users will be inevitably compromised."