During the 33rd round, the bids for 2G spectrum in the 1800 MHz and 900 MHz band crossed Rs52,700 crore
The ongoing 2G spectrum auction has entered its 33rd round of bidding after starting off from the Rs52,689 crore mark on Friday morning.
According to an official statement, the auction of spectrum in the 1800 MHz and 900 MHz band that began on 3rd February completed 32 rounds, as per the latest information available on the fifth day and bidding was ongoing.
The government had received Rs30,754 crore of bids for the 1800 MHz band and bids totalling Rs21,935 crore for the 900 MHz band at the end of the fourth day.
There is no time limit for the sale of spectrum and the duration of the auction will depend on the appetite of the eight companies in the fray - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Aircel, Tata Teleservices, Telewings (Uninor) and Reliance Communications.
Winners of spectrum in auctions are allowed to borrow as much as $750 million, or about Rs4,671 crore, from overseas in every financial year to pay for the airwaves, the government had said in Parliament.
At the end of each bidding round, the price of airwaves is increased in the range of 1% to 10%, depending on the number of spectrum blocks in demand.
The price of the 900 MHz band in Delhi shot up by about 78% to Rs639.24 crore per MHz, compared with the base price of Rs360 crore fixed by the government. In the 1800 MHz band, the reserve price rose by 5% to Rs230 crore a MHz.
The auction for the fourth day ended with no excess demand for the first time for the 900 MHz in any of the three metros - Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
In Mumbai, the price of the 900 MHz band increased 72% to Rs563.09 crore per MHz and in Kolkata it rose 54% to Rs 192.71 crore.
The government is offering about 385 MHz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, which started on 3rd February, following a February 2013 Supreme Court order.
Also on offer are airwaves in the 900 MHz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, which are held by Vodafone, Airtel and Loop Mobile, whose licences expire in November.
The 3G auction in 2010 took place over 34 days, while the auction in November 2012 lasted for two days and the March auction last year was a one-day affair.
In November 2012, bids worth Rs9,407 crore were received for spectrum worth Rs28,000 on offer.
In March 2013, no GSM operators participated in the auction and only CDMA operator Sistema Shyam bought spectrum of about Rs 3,600 crore in eight of the 21 service areas
Inside story of the National Stock Exchange’s amazing success, leading to hubris, regulatory capture and algo scam
Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
1-year online access to the magazine articles published during the subscription period.
Access is given for all articles published during the week (starting Monday) your subscription starts. For example, if you subscribe on Wednesday, you will have access to articles uploaded from Monday of that week.
This means access to other articles (outside the subscription period) are not included.
Articles outside the subscription period can be bought separately for a small price per article.
Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
30-day online access to the magazine articles published during the subscription period.
Access is given for all articles published during the week (starting Monday) your subscription starts. For example, if you subscribe on Wednesday, you will have access to articles uploaded from Monday of that week.
This means access to other articles (outside the subscription period) are not included.
Articles outside the subscription period can be bought separately for a small price per article.
Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
Complete access to Moneylife archives since inception ( till the date of your subscription )
