Indian telcos to do aggressive bidding for 3G spectrum

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After a delay of three years, the auctions for 3G spectrum is round the corner and all the private telecom players waiting for the big day are ready to indulge in an aggressive bidding to grab the crucial airwaves from their competitors. The auction is schedule to take place on April 9.

The auction is described as sizzling by the analysts because the spectrum which is at stake will bring the operators in the attractive realm of high-speed internet and video-conferencing services, thus giving them an edge over other operators in the highly competitive telecom market.

According to Mahesh Uppal, a telecom consultant, of the six companies that have pitched for a pan-India 3G spectrums, Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and Aircel are facing a serious 2G spectrum crunch and for these companies, 3G spectrum is critical and they cannot afford to let go airwaves.

Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 1,750 crore is the base price for pan-India 3G airwaves, for pan-India 3G airwaves  bid schedule to take place on April 11. Three slots of 3G airwaves in 17 telecom service areas and four in the other five will be auctioned by the Indian government and two slots are up for sale across the country for broadband airwaves.

Mr. Uppal also feels that bids would be very aggressive and it is unlikely that companies would bid less than a billion dollars, given that the base price is $780 million.