The spectrum auction today completed its third day with 6 clock rounds, bringing the total up to 17 rounds conducted to date. The third day saw an increased demand for the efficient 800MHz band. The demand went up in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha. In the 900 MHz, we saw an increased demand in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, UP East and West Bengal. In the 1800 MHz, there was no increased demand in any of the circles. In 2100 MHz band, there was a demand for 1 block each in North East and Rajasthan circles at the increased rates.
Also read: March 2015 Auction: Who will be the real winner?
All the action still seems to be concentrated in the lower frequency bands. The demand for 900 and 800 MHz bands is increasing and operators are willing to pay premium prices for the efficient airwaves. It is only after the prices of these bands soar outside the reach of the operators that they will bid more aggressively in the 1800MHz band. As for the 2100 MHz band we are witnessing much less demand than expected considering the incumbents would want to go Pan India with 3G spectrum and only one block being available.
Also read: Spectrum auction 2015 Day 1 report, Spectrum auction 2015 Day 3
Keep reading TelecomTalk for daily updates of the auction process.
