Nine bidders face off in India’s 3G auction

Following the close of applications on Friday to bid in India’s 3G auction, the telecoms regulator has announced nine bidders will compete in the upcoming auction, with a further 11 contesting the broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) confirmed the nine companies as follows: Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Tata Teleservices, Etisalat, S Tel, Videocon, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and Aircel.

The two state-run operators, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have already received 3G licenses, and will be required to pay a license fee based on the result of the auction for private licenses.

The 11 bidders for the BWA licenses are Tikona Digital, Qualcomm, Tata Communications, Vodafone-Essar, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Spice, Augere, HFCL, and Reliance Communications.

Three 3G slots and two BWA slots will be up for grabs in most of the 22 telecoms service areas. The 3G auction is scheduled for April 9, followed by the BWA auction two days later.