The cost of one nationwide slice of India’s 4G spectrum hit 11,517 crore rupees today, bringing the cost of one pan-Indian spectrum license in the BWA/2.3 GHz band to $2.41 billion.
Yesterday the auction hit 10,652 crore rupees, or $2.26 billion, as bids for spectrum in India’s urban areas in Dehli, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka drove demand.
The India spectrum auction is seen as especially lucrative because the country is home to the world’s fastest-growing telecommunications market.
Ten clock rounds were completed today, bringing the total number of clock rounds completed to date to 102. Last week, India’s Department of Telecommunications set the activity requirement to 90 percent, and the country’s 4G auction could end as early as this week.
Mumbai’s BWA spectrum fetched the highest bid at the close of today’s auction at 1,993.02 crore rupees, or $424 million. Dehli came in second with a top bid of 1,942.18 crore rupees, or $413 million. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had the third- and fourth-highest bids with 1,783.33 crore rupees, or $379.6 million, and 1,411.1 crore rupees, or $300 million, respectively.
The outcome of the spectrum auction will determine whether U.S.-based chipmaker Qualcomm will be able to go ahead with its plan to build out a TD-LTE network in India. Qualcomm is the only U.S. company said to be participating in the auction.
Filed Under: Infrastructure