BWA auction ends; Govt to get Rs 38,617 crore

New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) Exceeding all hopes, the auction for spectrum Friday ensured Rs 106,336 crore to the Indian government, over three times the original estimate, with successful bidders for Broadband Wireless Access committing over Rs 38,617 crore.

Internet Service Provider Infotel emerged as the only pan-India
winner for BWA spectrum by committing Rs 12,872.52 crore. Along with
the BWA proceeds, that the exchequer would get later this month, the Rs
67,719 crore received from 3G spectrum winners would help the government go
a long way in managing its deficit and reduce borrowings. In the Union
Budget this year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had taken into account
an estimated Rs 35,000 crore from sale of spectrum. In BWA, the
government auctioned two slots of 20 MHz each. Besides Infotel, US-based
Qualcom bagged four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana.
Qualcom would have to pay Rs 4,912.54 crore. Bharti also bagged four
circles--Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and Punjab--for Rs 3,314.36 crore.
Aircel bagged eight circles, mostly in category B and C areas for Rs
3,438.01 crore. On the lines of 3G, Mumbai and Delhi received the
highest bid amounts of Rs 2,292.95 crore and Rs 2,241.02 crore,
respectively. State-owned BSNL and MTNL, which have been given BWA
spectrum ahead of the private players, will have to pay the equivalent of
the winning bid in each service area. As many as 11 companies,
including Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Vodafone and Tata
Communications Internet Services, participated in the auction for Broadband
Wireless Access spectrum. BWA spectrum enables high-speed Internet
access as well as Internet telephony and TV services. It can also be used
for voice and high-speed data services. PTI SR RBT