The ongoing e-auction for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum got more intense on Friday as the provisional winning price for pan-India licence crossed Rs. 5,200 crore, which is over three times the reserve price of Rs. 1,750 crore.
At the current price, the government would easily get over Rs. 15,000 crore from the sale of three pan-India slots of BWA spectrum, including one slot that would go to government-owned BSNL or MTNL (in Delhi and Mumbai). As many as 11 companies are bidding for BWA spectrum, which includes leading telecom players like Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Vodafone and Tata.
Against the government estimates of earning Rs. 35,000 crore from both 3G and BWA spectrum auction, the exchequer is already assured to get over Rs. 83,000 crore, while analysts say it might easily cross Rs. 90,000 crore.
From the 3G auction, the government got Rs. 67,719 crore.
