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New Delhi, May 31: All the seven private players who had won third-generation (3G) spectrum in a recent auction paid Rs 50,964 crore to the government today, the last day for the submission of the bid amount.
State-owned BSNL and MTNL together paid Rs 16,750 crore. The duo did not participate in the auction but had received spectrum 18 months ago on condition that they pay an amount equal to the highest bid. The government is set to hit another jackpot in broadband radio waves.
At the end of six days of the auction for broadband wireless spectrum, total bids have crossed Rs 21,000 crore. While broadband could garner around Rs 30,000 crore, total revenue from spectrum sale would be over Rs 1 lakh crore.
The government is hoping to reduce its fiscal deficit to around 5 per cent of the gross domestic product from an estimated 5.5 per cent in the current financial year through the proceeds from spectrum sales.
Among the players who won 3G spectrum, Tata Teleservices paid Rs 5,864.29 crore for nine circles. “We now hope that the government will allocate spectrum well in time according to its commitment thereby enabling us to roll our services at the earliest,” the company said.
R-Com, Bharti Airtel and Aircel, who have each got spectrum in 13 circles, paid Rs 8,585.04 crore, Rs 12,295.46 crore and Rs 6,499.46 crore, respectively, to the department of telecommunications. Vodafone paid Rs 11,617.86 crore for nine circles, Idea forked out Rs 5,768.59 crore for 11 circles and STel paid Rs 337.67 crore for three circles. Together, the nine operators paid Rs 67,719 crore for 3G spectrum that will enable them to offer high-end voice and data services to their customers.
2G price meet
Telecom operators, mobile vendors and experts from IITs will meet regulator Trai on Saturday to discuss the 2G pricing mechanism.