The auction of airwaves for broadband wireless access (BWA) services, which was scheduled to start Saturday, will now begin Monday, an official from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said on Friday.
“The government today (Friday) approved the results of 3G auction. The auction for BWA will begin Monday,” the official told IANS.
As many as 11 companies — Bharti Airtel, Reliance WiMax, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Augere Mauritius Limited, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar — will participate in the BWA auction.
The government has set Rs.1,750 crore as the base price for a BWA slot.
Global investment bank Rothschild and telecom auction services provider dot.econ are advising the government on the auction.
The DoT says the aim of the auction is to award spectrum transparently and fairly to generate revenue for the public purse, ensuring effective competition and getting a market-determined price for the spectrum.
The auction to award spectrum for third generation (3G) telecom services concluded Wednesday, fetching Rs.67,718.95 crore ($15 billion) to the state exchequer.
