Telecom shares in demand

Shares of four telecom firms rose 0.56% to 2.65% at 11:25 IST on BSE as the third round of the telecom spectrum auction opened on a positive note on Monday, 3 February 2014.

Reliance Communications (up 2.65%), Idea Cellular (up 1.10%), Bharti Airtel (up 0.59%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (TTML) (up 0.56%), edged higher.

The S&P BSE Sensex was down 154.96 points, or 0.77% at 20,054.30.

The auction of spectrum in the 1800 MHz and 900 MHz band began at 9:00 IST on Monday, 3 February 2014. At the end of day one, seven rounds of bidding were completed. Bids have been received in all 22 service areas in 1800 MHz band and in all 3 service areas in 900 MHz band. Thus, bidding has taken place in all the service areas in both bands, the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology said in a statement.

Telecom companies bid aggressively for the efficient 900-MHz band available in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles on the first day of the spectrum auction on Monday. After seven rounds, the price for the 900-MHz band for the Mumbai circle was Rs 473.24 crore, Delhi, Rs 428.92 crore, and Kolkata Rs 173.16 crore.

For the 1,800-MHz band available in the other 22 circles, momentum is slowly building up. In the 1,800-MHz band, Gujarat was the only circle to create some buzz.

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