With about 89 per cent of the spectrum put on sale provisionally allocated to the telecom operators, the bids from the auction of biggest sale of 2G and 3G airwaves rose to Rs 1,08,000 crore at the end of thirteenth day.
On Wednesday, a total of six rounds of bidding took place, taking the total number of rounds in the spectrum so far to 80. The bidding would re-commence on Thursday morning as there is still unsold spectrum left.
“About 89 per cent of the spectrum has been provisionally allocated to bidders. The provisional amount committed by bidders at the end of 80th round is over Rs 1,08,000 crore,” the official statement said.
The bidding is taking place in all the four bands – 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100 MHz. DoT said robust bidding is going on in 1800 MHz and 800 MHz bands and expects competitive bidding to continue. In 800 MHz band, excess bidding was seen in Delhi and Maharashtra telecom circles and in Kerala circle in the 1800 MHz band.
“Majority of service areas are going at a premium over reserve price. The competitive bidding is expected to continue,” it added.
However, many experts have cautioned that as telecom operators are incurring huge costs for acquiring the spectrum, it will reduce the availability of funds for investments in next generation technologies and could adversely impact the government’s ambitious Digital India project.
Eight firms – Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, Aircel, Reliance Jio Infocom, Uninor and Tata Teleservices -- are in the fray to acquire spectrum in four bands.
The government is not disclosing the names of the successful bidders as yet as a case is pending before the Supreme Court. The next hearing on the case is on March 26. From the last spectrum auction held in February 2014, the government had raked in Rs 62,162 crore.
In the ongoing auction, a total of 380.75 MHz of spectrum is on offer in the premium 900 MHz band, 1,800 MHz and 800 MHz while 5 MHz is up for bidding in the 2,100 MHz band across 17 out of 22 telecom areas or circles in the country. Most of the spectrum put up for auction is presently held by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Telecom. Their licences are expiring in 2015-16.
