Bids reach Rs. 103,046cr on eleventh day of spectrum auction

BANGALORE, INDIA: Government has been able to raise  another one thousand crore on the eleventh day of spectrum auction.

The provisional amount committed by bidders reached Rs. 103,046 crore on Monday at the end of 67th round  of bidding, said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The provisional bidding amount was Rs. 102,215 crore after tenth day of bidding.

The amount has been raised by a provisional allocation of more than 87 percent of the spectrum to the bidders so far.

The bidding is taking place for the last two weeks in all the 2G and 3G spectrum bands. But robust bidding is going on mostly in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. Majority of service areas are going at a premium over reserve price. The bidding data over the past few days of spectrum auction show a major shift to the 800MHz band in circles such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and North East. The band is attracting attention as it can be used for FD-LTE versions of 4G technology.

Circles such as West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Kerala, however show a demand for 900MHz band,  which requires lower investment in rolling out infrastructure and can be used for both 2G and 3G services. Activity in the 2100MHz band is still dull, which is needed for offering 3G services.

The bidding is going on today as well.