)
Four days into the telecom spectrum auction, the government’s assured revenue from the sale stands at Rs 86,000 crore. The spectrum auction, the biggest so far, is the first under the current central government.
At the end of the fourth day, 24 rounds of bidding had been completed, according to the Department of Telecommunications. The auction will now resume on Monday.
On the first day, the government had received bids for Rs 60,000 crore. Going by the aggressive bidding, the revenue might surpass the government’s expectation of Rs 80,000 crore-Rs 1 lakh crore. It is expected the auction will go on for at least two weeks.
Through the previous auction, in February 2014, the government had raised Rs 62,162 crore.
If the daily bids are taken into account, the estimated revenue is likely to stand at Rs 94,000 crore, as there will be unsold spectrum in the 900-MHz band because of the structure of the auction and the conditions laid out in a notice inviting applications, including a fixed slot size for an entrant. A few bidders are withdrawing at the last round, despite the prices rising in the 900-MHz band.
So far, there has been aggressive bidding in the 900-MHz band, used for offering voice services. According to new norms, this band can also be used for 3G mobile services.
The mobile licences of Idea Cellular (nine circles), Bharti Airtel (six circles) and Vodafone and Reliance Telecom (seven circles each) are due for renewal in 2015-16. As such, the ongoing spectrum auction is crucial for these companies.
Overall, 29 licences in 18 service areas are due for renewal in 2015-16. These licences hold 184 MHz of spectrum in the 900-MHz band and 34.2 MHz in the 1,800-MHz band.
Other companies participating in the auction include Reliance Jio, Tata Teleservices, Uninor and Aircel. Together, these companies have submitted earnest money of Rs 20,435 crore.
The Department of Telecommunications won’t be able to announce the final results of the auction because of a Supreme Court order barring it from doing so without its permission. A hearing in the Supreme Court in this regard is scheduled for March 26.
