Huge response to 3G auction on Day 1

The 3G spectrum auction evoked an excellent response from mobile operators on day one, with the reserve price of Rs 3,500 crore for pan-India operations escalating nearly 12 per cent to Rs 3,913.81 crore.

According to information posted on DoT website, five rounds of auction were completed.

All the nine operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, RCom and Tatas, participated in the online auction.

Delhi circle, for which the reserve price is set at Rs 320 crore, generated the maximum interest from bidders with the winning prices at the end of round five was Rs 373.29 crore. Mumbai and Maharashtra were a close second at Rs 362.66 crore. Nine circles saw negative demands. The quotes are provisional.

When contacted, government officials said the auction process may go on for 10-12 days looking at the response from the operators.

Asked whether there was any glitch in conducting the auction, government officials said the process was extremely smooth.

The government has set an ambitious target of raising up to Rs 35,000 crore from the sale of spectrum for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) services.

Telecom Minister A Raja, however, said that the collection from the sale of spectrum may go up to Rs 40,000 crore as the players are too keen to acquire air waves for 3G mobile services.