The Indian government on Wednesday confirmed that its spectrum auction raised 1.09 trillion rupees (€15.9 billion), with 900 MHz frequencies accounting for two thirds of the total.
The 900 MHz spectrum on offer generated INR729.65 billion (€10.6 billion), or 66.4% of the overall sum raised, according to a government report.
The 900 MHz airwaves were expected to be the most popular, since they are already in the hands of some of the country’s biggest operators, whose spectrum licences are due to expire in the next couple of years.
The state has not yet revealed the identities of the winners though.
The auction was contested by eight players. Market leaders Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications are expected to have spent big, but also faced competition from newcomer Reliance Industries, which plans to launch mobile services as Reliance Jio Infocomm later this year. Aircel, Uninor and Tata Teleservices also took part.
The 800 MHz spectrum on offer fetched INR171.59 billion (€2.5 billion) and the 1800 MHz airwaves generated INR96.36 billion.
The controversial 2.1 GHz spectrum, which was added to the auction by the government, despite objections from many in the industry, raised INR101.15 billion.
The auction took place over 19 days and 115 rounds of bidding.
