Following the commencement of the airwaves for broadband wireless access (BWA) auction, the Communications Minister A. Raja claims that the Indian Government expects the revenues to the tune of Rs. 15,000 crore ($3.2 billion).
According to the reports, the BWA spectrum is vital in order to roll out the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) services that enables the hand-held devices and laptops to access the Internet.
The latest technology would allow the winner Companies to offer high-speed Internet access, internet telephony, and television services to their subscriber base. Further, the spectrum can also be utilized for voice and high-speed data services.
All the major telecom companies are participating in the auction for BWA. The total number of participating is as high s 11. Some of the prominent names are Bharti Airtel, Reliance WiMax, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Augere Mauritius Limited, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar.
The auction would be carried out simultaneously online for the two slots in each of the country’s 22 service areas. The base price for a pan-India slot has been set as Rs. 1, 750 crores by the Government.
Reports confirm that the Government has already allocated one block of 20 MHz of unpaired spectrum each to both the Government owned telecom companies, namely Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).
The price that would be paid by the two state-run telecom firms would be decided on the base of the winners’ price.
According to the sources, the successful bidders in this auction would be able to use the assigned frequency for commercial purposes immediately after the spectrum is allotted.
