Govt gets Rs 18,267 cr upfront payment for spectrum

The government today received payment of Rs 18,267 crore, about Rs 30 crore less than the bids received from seven companies in the spectrum auction last month because of unavailability of radiowaves in some parts of service areas.
"All companies have made upfront payment today. Total of about Rs 18,267 crore has been received," Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui told PTI.
The amount received exceeds the government's target of about Rs 11,333 crore set for the current fiscal, ending March 31, by about 61 per cent.
The government received bids worth Rs 62,162 crore in the auction for 1800 Mhz and 900 Mhz bands.

The winners -- Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Idea Cellular, Telenor (Uninor), Reliance Communications and Aircel -- had the option of paying in instalments - 33 per cent upfront for 1800 Mhz and 25 per cent for 900 Mhz band.
The rest of the amount is to be paid in yearly instalments after two years with about 10 per cent interest.

"Uninor confirms that it has made the requisite upfront payment of Rs 266.44 crore, and bank guarantee of Rs 106.53 crore towards the first instalment payment, for the spectrum secured in the recent auctions," it said in a statement.

As per the rule, the company had to pay about Rs 290 crore upfront but due to non-availability of spectrum in some areas, the upfront payment for it was reduced.
Vodafone, the biggest winner of spectrum, had to make upfront payment of about Rs 5,582 crore; Airtel - Rs 5,425 crore; Idea - Rs 3,240 crore; RJio - Rs 3,648; Telewings (Uninor) - Rs 290 crore; Aircel - Rs 69 crore and RCom Rs 54 crore.
Overall, Vodafone, Airtel and Idea won radiowaves in both 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands in some circles during the 10-day auction that started on February 3.

Vodafone won 900 MHz spectrum in the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata for Rs 11,261.2 crore and 1800 MHz spectrum in 11 service areas for Rs 8,383.52 crore.
Airtel followed Vodafone with Rs 18,529.64 crore of bids. It won 900 MHz band frequencies in the three metros for Rs 8,623 crore and 1800 MHz band spectrum in 15 out of 22 service areas for Rs 9,906.02 crore.
New entrant RJio made bids worth Rs 11,054.41 crore for the 1800 MHz band in 14 service areas.
Idea Cellular made bids Rs 3,704.8 crore for the 900 MHz band in Delhi and acquired 1800 MHz band spectrum in 11 service areas, for which it has to pay Rs 7,010.83 crore.

Telewings Communication Services and Aircel bought 1800 MHz band spectrum in five service areas for Rs 877.72 crore and Rs 209.9 crore. RCom purchased radiowaves in the same band in Mumbai for Rs 163.2 crore.