Pan- India 3G license bid touches Rs 16,828 crore

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The bid for the pan- India 3G license auction reached Rs 16,828 crore, double the amount which has been expected by the government. In the auction that lasted for 34 days, Bharti, Idea and Vodafone Essar are said to win in some of the circles. The reserved price of the auction was Rs 3,500 crore and the expected to earn 70,000 crore.

Auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum will commence by the government two days after the close of auction for 3G telephony spectrum.

Nine leading mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communication and the Tata Teleservices, had entered the auction to grab spectrum for 3G services. The 3G services will allow users to access high-speed data downloads on mobile phones.

Only three operators in most state would have managed to get a slot while four were available in Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.