BWA auction: revenue crosses Rs.26,000 cr

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The Government of India's revenue from the broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum auction crossed Rs.26,000 crore, after completion of 62 clock rounds on Wednesday.

The provisional winning price of pan-India BWA spectrum crossed Rs.8,500 crore and Delhi, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu circles continued to remain on the top. While the provisional winning price for Delhi and Mumbai stood at Rs. 1,304.66 crore each, the Tamil Nadu circle is just behind with Rs. 1,197.95 crore.

The online auction is being held for two slots in each of the country's 22 service areas. The spectrum will allow the companies to offer high-speed Internet access as well as Internet telephony and television services.

As many as 11 companies - Bharti Airtel, Reliance WiMax, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Augere Mauritius Ltd, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar - are participating in the BWA auction.