Business
Auction of telecom spectrum concludes after 19 days
New Delhi, March 25
After 19 days of rigorous
bidding, the auction of airwaves for telecom operators concluded
Wednesday, with officials initially placing the figure of cumulative
bids at over Rs.100,000 crore.
The auction was conducted for 800
MHz, 900 Mhz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz covering both mobile telephony and
broadband, including 4G.
Till Tuesday, the government had
received cumulative commitments of Rs.109,000 crore from the eight
telecom operators in the fray -- Reliance Communications, Reliance Jio,
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Tata Teleservices, Uninor, Idea Cellular
and Aircel.
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.