Business
Spectrum bids total Rs.105,000 crore after 17 days of auction
New Delhi, March 23
The government has
received cumulative commitments of Rs.105,000 crore from telecom
operators during the 17 days of e-auctions since March 4 for the award
of radio frequency spectrum, an official statement said here on Monday.
Seven fresh rounds of bidding were seen on Day 17.
Day
16 on Saturday saw Rs.107,000 crore commitment from telecom operators
at the end of bidding after 97 rounds. Hence, on the 17th day, there was
a fall of Rs.2,000 crore in the collective value of the highest bids
across bands from a day earlier.
"The bidding is taking place in
all bands. Brisk bidding was seen on 17th day of bidding, with activity
requirement set at 100 percent. There is robust bidding going on in 900
MHz and 800 MHz bands," the Department of Telecom (DoT) said in a
statement.
"At the end of the 104th round, about 88 percent of
the spectrum has been provisionally allocated to bidders. The
provisional amount committed by bidders at the end of the 104th round is
over Rs.105,000 crore," it said.
"Majority of service areas are
going at a premium over reserve price. The competitive bidding is
expected to continue. There is still spectrum which is yet to be sold.
Bidding would recommence tomorrow, that is, March 24, 2015, at 9 a.m,"
the statement added.
The central government has budgeted for
Rs.43,161.72 crore from e-auctions of spectrum for the current fiscal
while the reserve price for the entire spectrum on offer in the four
bands across India was around Rs.80,000 crore.
The bids so far have well exceeded these numbers.
The maximum bids of 85 were received for Tamil Nadu circle with a winning amount of Rs.45 crore per block in the 1,800 MHz band.
However,
this circle saw 10 less bids. The second highest bids of 75 were
received for Punjab circle with a winning amount of Rs.72.15 crore per
block in the 900 MHz band.
However, this circle saw three less
bids. The eight telecom service providers participating in the auctions
are Reliance Communications, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone
India, Tata Teleservices, Uninor, Idea Cellular and Aircel.
They have submitted earnest money of Rs.20,435 crore, which is two and a half times what had been called for.
The
total spectrum put up for auction is 103.75 MHz in 800 MHz band, 177.8
MHz in 900 MHz band and 99.2 MHz in 1,800 MHz band for second generation
(2G) telephony.
The government has also put up 5 MHz in the 2,100 MHz band for third generation (3G) telephony.
A
reserve price of Rs.3,423 crore per MHz was fixed for 800 MHz
frequency, Rs.3,399 crore for 900 MHz band and Rs.1,425 crore for the
1,800 MHz band.
The government also fixed a reserve price of Rs.3,511 crore per megahertz for the frequency for 3G spectrum.