The government revenue from the 3G and Broadband Wireless Auction (BWA) spectrum sale crossed Rs 1 lakh crore today, the 13th day of the auction, with BWA bids for the Tamil Nadu and Punjab circles exceeding the 3G bids.
The pan-India BWA licence touched Rs 11,518 crore after the end of 102 rounds of auction.
With the government selling three slots of BWA spectrum, revenue from the BWA auction touched Rs 34,554 crore at the current bid price, while the yield from the sale of spectrum for both 3G and BWA touched Rs 1.02 lakh crore.
The highest bid for BWA in Tamil Nadu was Rs 1,783.33 crore, whereas the 3G bid was Rs 1,464.94 crore. Punjab's BWA bid fetched Rs 322.27 crore, while its 3G bid was Rs 322.01 crore.
Mumbai received the highest BWA bid of Rs 1,993.02 crore, followed by Delhi at Rs 1,942.18 crore.
The government had projected revenue of just Rs 35,000 crore from the sale of spectrum for both 3G and BWA put together. The 3G spectrum auction fetched Rs 67,719 crore.
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Nine circles witnessed negative demand, while many B and C circles like HP, Bihar and Orissa -- which witnessed negative demand in the 3G auction -- saw excess demand under the BWA auction.
The government is auctioning two slots of 20 MHz of pan-India BWA spectrum. BSNL and MTNL, which have already been given BWA spectrum ahead of private players, will have to pay the equivalent of the winning bid in each service area.
As many as 11 companies are bidding for BWA spectrum. Apart from Bharti Airtel, RCom, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Vodafone and Tata Communications Internet Services, the BWA aspirants include four new players -- Augere, Tikona Wireless, Infotel Broadband Services and Qualcomm; and Spice Internet and Infotel.
BWA spectrum allows companies to offer high-speed Internet access as well as Internet telephony and TV services. It can also be used for voice and high-speed data services.