India raises INR 257 bln in BWA spectrum auction

India's auction of wireless broadband spectrum has ended, with fixed-line operator Infotel the big winner of pan-India spectrum rights. Infotel acquired licences in all 22 regional telecom circles, for a total price of INR 128.48 bln. Two blocks of 20MHz each in the 2.3GHz band were issued in each circle, bringing total proceeds for the auction to INR 256.96 billion. Other winners included Qualcomm, which took a total four licences including the two largest areas of Delhi and Mumbai (INR 49.13 billion), Aircel with eight licences (INR 34.38 billion), Bharti Airtel with four licences (INR 33.14 billion), Tikona with five licences (INR 10.58 billion) and Augere with one licence in Madhya Pradesh (INR 1.25 billion). Together with the proceeds from the earlier 3G auction, the Indian government raised INR 934.15 billion (USD 19.94 billion). Eleven companies qualifed for the wireless broadband auction, including mobile oeprators Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications, but after the high prices in the 3G auction a number of the existing operators withdrew when the BWA bids escalated.