Final rounds of bids for third-generation spectrum are on with the pan-India 3G auction

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having clocked Rs 9,920 crore on Saturday. The pan-India bids touched 183.42 per cent higher than the base price of Rs 3,500 crore.

The price of spectrum at this bid amount is likely to surpass the government estimate of Rs 40,000 crore. The government expects the bid amount to increase since the autions would be continue for two to three more days.

Aggressive competition is being witnessed among the bidders with the Mumbai circle bid clocked the highest at Rs 1,617 crore, while Delhi circle price rose to Rs 1,550 crore, followed by Maharashtra at Rs 1,020 crore. The bids have started picking up after initial cautious bidding. Altogether 110 rounds of bids are completed. The auction process will resume on Monday.

According to the auction process, there would be multiple, round-the-clock auction simultaneously for 22 circles. There are three and four slots of 3G spectrum.

The department of telecommunications is planning to go for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, two days after the completion of 3G auctions. The department has fixed the reserve price for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum at Rs 1,750 crore. There are three slots for BWA.

Altogether nine applicants have submitted their application to bid for 3G. These players include Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Idea, Reliance, Tata Teleservices Vodafone, S Tel, Videocon and Etisalat DB Telecom.