The government will allot the 3G spectrum to all the winning operators on September 1. The auction fetched the government over Rs 67,000 crore across the 22 circles in the country. All the winners would be allotted the spectrum except for AV Birla-controlled Idea Cellular which will be allotted the spectrum in 10 of the 11 circles, barring the Punjab circle as its merger with Spice Communications here is incomplete. Senior officials in DoT said that amendment of UAS licence of Spice for Punjab service area for usage of 3G spectrum may not be possible in the name of Idea till the licensor takes on record the merger of Spice and Idea. Out of the 11 service areas, where LOIs have been granted to Idea earmarking 3G spectrum, the company holds licences in 10 circles.
In case of Punjab, however, the UAS licence is being held by Spice.
Bharti Airtel paid the maximum amount of Rs 12,295 crore for a total of 13 circles across the country, followed by Vodafone Essar which paid Rs 11,618 crore for 11 circles. Reliance communications paid a total of Rs 8,600 crore for spectrum and Aircel Rs 6,134 crore. Idea Cellular won spectrum in 11 circles at a price of Rs 5,769 crore and S Tel won in 3 circles at rs 379.15 crore.
With this development the operators are likely to start their operations by December. Sanjay Kapoor, CEO Bharti Airtel India & South Asia had earlier told FE in an interview that if the government allots the spectrum on time and also allows for the equipments to be imported without any delay then the company would be able to commercially launch its services by December.