The third day of the spectrum auction witnessed aggressive bidding by the operators with the government receiving bids worth Rs 500 billion at the end of the day. In comparison, the government had received bids worth Rs 450 and Rs 399 billion on the first and second day, respectively.
The third day of the spectrum auction witnessed a total of 21 bidding rounds and the government received bids for all the 22 telecom circles. At the end of the day, the government has received total bids worth Rs 200 billion for the spectrum in the 900 MHz band and Rs 300 billion for the spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band Aggressive bidding was witnessed in the 900 MHz band where spectrum has been put up for auction in three circles ? Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Players including Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India put in aggressive bids for acquiring spectrum in the three circles. Further, an increase in demand for spectrum in the 1,800 MHz was also witnessed on the third day of the spectrum auction.
Based on the bids received on the third day of the spectrum auction, the government is expecting revenue worth Rs 150 billion in the financial year 2014, even if the bidders decide to make payments in installments.
Eight players are participating in the third round of the spectrum auction. These include Reliance Communications, RJIL, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Telewings Communications, Aircel, Tata Teleservices Limited and Idea Cellular.
