India's auction for 3G GSM Service licence ended today with bids for pan-India licence touching Rs 16,751 crore which ensures the Government of India a revenue of Rs 67,719 crore.
The 3G auction had commenced on 9 April, 2010 and there were nine bidders in the fray for the slots of 3G spectrum on the block. The government auctioned three slots in 17 telecom service areas and four slots in the remaining five states of Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
No single bidder bid for a pan-India 3G license so state operator BSNL would be remain the biggest 3G operator in India. Delhi circle emerged the most valuable circle at Rs.3317 crore, followed by Mumbai at Rs.3247 crore. Among the major bidders, Idea cellular paid nearly Rs.5765 cr for 11 telecom circles, while India's largest 2G Mobile service operator Bharti Airtel paid Rs.12290 cr for 13 telecom circles, Vodafone Essar will paid Rs. 11617 crore for 9 telecom circle while Reliance Commmunication paid Rs 8583 crore for 13 telecom circles.
List of 3G Spectrum Winners -:
| Pan India 3G operator / PSU 3G Operator | ||
| BSNL (except Mumbai /Delhi) | Highest Bid for all circles | |
| MTNL (Mumbai/Delhi) | Highest Bid for Mumbai/Delhi circles | |
| The Circle wise List of 3G Spectrum Winners (Private Operators )-: | ||
| Telecom Circle | Operator | Bid Amount |
| Delhi & NCR | Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications (R GSM) | Rs.3316.93 cr |
| Mumbai | Reliance Communications (R GSM), Vodafone, Bharti Airtel | Rs.3247.07 cr |
| Maharashtra & Goa | Tata Docomo (Tata Com), IDEA Cellular, Vodafone | Rs.1257.82 cr |
| Gujarat | Tata Docomo (Tata Com), Vodafone, IDEA Cellular | Rs.1076.06 cr |
| Andhra Pradesh | Bharti Airtel, IDEA Cellular, Aircel | Rs.1373.14 cr |
| Karnataka | Tata Docomo (Tata Telecommunication) Aircel, Bharti Airtel | Rs.1579.91 cr |
| Tamil Nadu including Chennai | Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel | Rs.1464.94 cr |
| Kolkata | Vodafone, Aircel, Reliance Communications (R GSM) | Rs. 544.26 cr |
| Kerela | IDEA Cellular, Tata Docomo (Tata Telecommunications), Aircel | Rs.312.48 cr |
| Punjab | IDEA Cellular, Reliance Communications, Tata Tata Docomo (Tata Telecommunications), Aircel | Rs.322.01 cr |
| Haryana | IDEA Cellular, Tata Docomo (Tata Telecommunications), Vodafone | Rs.222.58 cr |
| Madhya Pradesh & Chattishgarh | IDEA Cellular, Reliance Communications (R GSM), Tata Docomo (Tata Telecommunications) | Rs.258.4 cr |
| Rajasthan | Reliance Communications (R GSM), Bharti Airtel, Tata Docomo (Tata Telecommunications) | Rs.321 cr |
| U.P. (West) | Bharti Airtel, IDEA Cellular, Tata Docomo (Tata Telecommunications) | Rs.514 cr |
| U.P (East): | Aircel, IDEA Cellular, Vodafone | Rs.364.6 cr |
| West Bengal and Sikkim | Bharti Airtel, Reliance Telecom, (R GSM) Vodafone, Aircel | Rs.123.36 cr |
| Himachal Pradesh | Bharti Airtel, Stel, IDEA Cellular, Reliance GSM. | Rs.37.23 cr |
| Bihar & Jharkhand | Stel, Bharti Airtel, Reliance GSM, Aircel | Rs.203.46 cr |
| Orissa | Stel, Aircel, Reliance GSM | Rs.96.98 cr |
| Assam | Reliance GSM, Bharti Airtel, Aircel | Rs.41.48 cr |
| North East | Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Reliance GSM | Rs.42.30 cr |
| Jammu & Kashmir | IDEA Cellular, Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Comm (R GSM) | Rs. 30.30 cr |
The winning telecom firms will have to deposit the money within 10 days from now. The successful bidders would be allowed to offer 3G services on a commercial basis from 1st September,2010.
State telecom operator BSNL and MTNL already received 3G spectrum outside the auction process, and launched 3G mobile services in more than 430 cities across India,but the bidding price would be determined by the auction price.
