Bids for one pan-India spectrum license in the 2.3 GHz band reached 8,979 crore rupees, or $1.9 billion, on the ninth day of the country’s 4G spectrum auction.
Spectrum in urbanized, highly populated regions like Dehli, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu fetched the highest bids. Bids for a single 4G spectrum license in Mumbai reached 1,404 crore rupees, or about $3 million. The price for 4G spectrum licenses in Dehli and Tamil Nadu reached 1,384 crore rupees, or $2.9 million, and 1,271 crore rupees, or $2.7 million, respectively.
Companies bidding on the 4G/BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) spectrum, including San Diego-based Qualcomm, completed 68 clock rounds by the end of bidding yesterday.
The India Department of Telecommunications set the activity requirement to 90 percent from clock round 65. The auction will begin to come to a close when the activity requirement reaches 100 percent.
Qualcomm wants to use India’s 4G spectrum to build out a TD-LTE network to strengthen its chip-making business in a key growth market. India has the fastest-growing telecommunications market in the world.
India recently auctioned off its 3G spectrum auction. Vodafone Essar, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications won key licenses, though no single operator won a license covering the entire country.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
