Gujarat surprise hotspot in 3G spectrum auction

Gujarat has emerged as the surprise hotspot in the ongoing auction of spectrum for third generation (3G) telephony services. While the highest bid so far for any circle has been for Delhi, at Rs 416.43 crore, Gujarat is just a tad behind, with a bid of Rs 416.42 crore. 

Gujarat also saw the highest number of bidders, five, while Delhi had four bidders. 

Other circles moving up in the bidding chain are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, with the highest bid at Rs 404.54 crore each. Mumbai, the financial city, had the highest bid of Rs 392.66 crore. All these circles had a base price of Rs 320 crore. 

The bid for a pan-India licence reached Rs 4,324.19 crore, up 23.5 per cent from the fixed base price of Rs 3,500 crore. A total of 16 rounds have been completed in three days of bidding for 3G. The auction began on April 9 and is expected to be completed in one to two weeks. 

Among Category B circles, UP (East) attracted the highest number of bidders, at six, the peak bid being Rs 157.66 crore, while Rajasthan saw five bidders, with a highest bid of Rs 159.47 crore. 

However, the demand for 3G spectrum in Category C circles had not picked up even on the third day. Orissa, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir circles have seen no bidders on the first, second and third day. Orissa and Assam had three slots for 3G auction, while in Jammu & Kashmir, there are four slots available. 

Six major telecom service providers — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices and Aircel -- are vying with each other to get 3G spectrum in all the 22 circles. 

So far, spectrum had been given bundled with the Unified Access Service Licence, priced at Rs 1,650 crore. 

The government had already said it expected to earn Rs 35,000-45,000 crore from the 3G and broadband wireless access auctions. Telecom PSUs Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd were given 3G spectrum ahead of private players and have already launched their 3G mobile services. But, they would have to match the highest bid.