Nine telecom service providers, including state-run PSUs Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), for which the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was considering a waiver, have collectively paid Rs 67,719 crore to the government for winning the 3G spectrum in the recently-concluded auction.
Bharti Airtel paid the highest — Rs 12,295.46 crore — for 3G in 13 circles, followed by Vodafone, which paid Rs 11,617.86 crore for 9 circles. BSNL also paid Rs 10,186.56 crore across circles, except in Delhi and Mumbai. May 31 was the last date for payments.
The huge payment also had its impact on the country’s banking system, which turned net borrowers during the Reserve Bank of India’s liquidity adjustment facility operations after several months today, as the huge payment for 3G spectrum fee drained out cash from the system. Telecom operators together borrowed over Rs 45,000 crore from banks to pay the auction fee.
The tightness was visible in the money markets, too, with call rates touching a high of 5.30 per cent. In addition, the rates in the collateralised borrowing and lending obligations (CBLO) market — also accessed by bond houses, insurance companies non-banking finance companies and mutual funds — reached a high of 5.50 per cent. The weighted average call rate was 4.99 per cent today, compared with 3.68 per cent on Saturday.
Volumes also shot up to Rs 11,550 crore in the call market, while in the CBLO space, volumes were estimated at Rs 45,754 crore, according to data available on the Clearing Corporation of India website. During the two LAF operations, banks used the repo window to access Rs 3,710 crore on a net basis.
Reliance Communications deposited Rs 8,585.04 crore for 13 circles. MTNL, which offers telecom services only in two circles of Delhi and Mumbai, paid Rs 6,564 crore, while Tata Teleservices paid Rs 5,864.29 crore bid amount for 9 circles.
Aircel, in which Malaysia’s Maxis Communications Bhd has a 74 per cent stake, had earlier submitted Rs 6,500 crore for acquiring 3G spectrum in 13 circles. STel also paid the required amount.
The government had budgeted in Rs 35,000 crore from the auction of both 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum. Currently, the auction of BWA spectrum is on.
The successful bidders would be allotted spectrum for commercial use in September this year. The defence services have already vacated two slots of 3G spectrum, while the third one will be released in September.
The 3G services will allow mobile subscribers to access high-speed data services on their mobile phones.
All the private telecom operators, barring BSNL and MTNL, had participated in the 34-day long auction process that ended on May 19. No player was able to get hold of pan-India 3G spectrum. BSNL and MTNL were allotted spectrum last year but they had to match the winning bid in the auction.
