3G bids up 89% on Day 10

The government would rake in at least Rs 26,500 crore from the auction of third generation (3G) telecom spectrum. On the 10th day, the pan-India licence reached a bid of Rs 6,634.31 crore, up by about 89.5 per cent, from the base price of Rs 3,500 crore.

The bid price for Delhi circle continued to increase as the highest bid reached Rs 771.11 crore. Delhi has three slots available for auction. Mumbai witnessed the second highest bid of Rs 708.81 crore, followed by Tamil Nadu with price crossing Rs 682.92 crore. The circles of Delhi, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu have a base price of Rs 320 crore.

Starting on April 9, a total of 58 rounds were completed till Day 10, and is expected to be over in one-two weeks. Bidding for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) would start two days after closing of 3G auction.

The government has budgeted in a target of Rs 35,000 crore from the auctions of 3G and BWA, out of which Rs 30,000 crore is expected to come from 3G only. There are three blocks for 3G auction in 17 circles, while in rest of the five circles there are four blocks of spectrum available.

Communications and IT Minister A Raja said the government expects the revenues to go up from Rs 35,000 crore.

However, the demand for 3G spectrum in Category C circles did not pick up even on the 10th day. Orissa, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir circles have not seen any bidder till now. Orissa and Assam have three slots for 3G auction, while in Jammu & Kashmir there are four slots.

Six major telecom service providers — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices and Aircel — are vying for 3G spectrum in all 22 circles.