Auction for 3G licence ended Today with bids reaching Rs 16,751 crore which means that the total revenue for government is pegged at Rs 67,719 crore. We have expressed our concerns earlier on how this could mean a higher cost to be paid by the end subscriber for availing 3G services.
Delhi vs Mumbai Battle
The delhi vs Mumbai battle for the most valuable circle was finally won by Delhi even though Mumbai lead the race for most of the 34 days that the auction was ongoing. Delhi clocked a bid of Rs 3,317 crore. Vodafone, Bharti, Reliance Communications won key circles such as Mumbai and Delhi.
3G Over Broadband To Start Soon..
Now that the 3G auction is over the next bidding will take place for the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum. For BWA there are 11 operators are in the fray and the base price has been fixed at Rs 1,750 crore and only two slots are available. All eyes will be on how much money does the Government make in these auctions as this would also have an impact of the overall connectivity growth in India.
Tele-density High – Will 3G Fly?
The tele-density is at an all time high with a total of 621.28 million subscrbers at the end of March 2010 but it remains to be seen as to how 3G will help Telecom players. One is ofcourse it will ease capacity constraints and the second could be the increase the revenue per user via use of data services
India’s market is unique because of the following reasons. Cheapest Rentals in the World and HyperCompetitive with 12-13 players compared to 3-4 in most other markets The severe competition in the Indian market makes surviving and making profits a tough task for almost all the companies except for a few.The 3G auction has made it a “winner’s curse” .Let’s see if these high bids translate into good service as well
Operators who didn’t opt/get to operate 3G in any circles but were part of bidding process are ‘Videocon’ and ‘Etisalat’
Check more ’3G auction in India : Analysis’ om UnwireIndia.com visit http://bit.ly/beNMzQ