Mobile Call rates in India are among the cheapest in the world and the call rates or tariffs in India are set to rise after telecom operators bid aggressively to win airwaves in the just concluded spectrum auction. . Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea last year raised voice prices for the first time in three years. Mobile companies have also been cutting discounts previously offered to lure customers in a highly-competitive market.
The 2G spectrum auction concluded on Thursday after 68 rounds of bidding. Apart from the telecom operators that bagged rights to spectrum, the government also emerged a big winner as the auction will bring in higher-than-expected revenues.
The government will get Rs. 61,162 crore from the spectrum auction.
The telecom department had put on the block about 385 MHz of radio waves in the 1800 MHz band in 22 circles and 46 MHz in the 900 MHz band in 3 circles.
Winners in 900 MHz band
|
Area |
Band (MHz) |
Reserve Price/block |
Winning Bid |
Winners |
|
Delhi |
900 |
360 |
740.96 |
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular |
|
Kolkata |
900 |
125 |
194.63 |
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone |
|
Mumbai |
900 |
328 |
563.09 |
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone |
Winners in 1800 MHz band
The Reliance Jio bagged 1800 MHz band in 14 circles out of 22 on offer. This will help the company to not only offer data but also voice services in these regions. Reliance Jio had earlier won the rights to offer 4G broadband services across the country.
|
Area |
Band (MHz) |
Reserve Price/block |
Winning Bid |
Winners |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
1800 |
32.6 |
32.60 |
Bharti Airtel, Idea, Reliance Jio, Telewings Communications, Vodafone India |
|
Assam |
1800 |
1.4 |
7.22 |
Reliance Jio, Telewings Communications |
|
Bihar |
1800 |
7.4 |
8.62 |
Telewings Communications |
|
Delhi |
1800 |
43.8 |
72.80 |
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular |
|
Gujarat |
1800 |
28.5 |
47.56 |
Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea |
|
Haryana |
1800 |
5.4 |
5.40 |
Idea, Vodafone |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
1800 |
1.2 |
1.20 |
Bharti Airtel |
|
Jammu & Kashmir |
1800 |
1 |
1.22 |
Aircel, Bharti Airtel |
|
Karnataka |
1800 |
31 |
31.00 |
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance Jio |
|
Kerala |
1800 |
10.4 |
10.40 |
Idea, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio |
|
Kolkata |
1800 |
14.6 |
14.60 |
Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio |
|
Madhya Pradesh |
1800 |
8.6 |
10.08 |
Idea, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel |
|
Maharashtra |
1800 |
34.6 |
58.07 |
Reliance Jio, Idea |
|
Mumbai |
1800 |
41.4 |
54.40 |
Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance Communications |
|
North East |
1800 |
1.4 |
1.40 |
Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Idea, Aircel |
|
Orissa |
1800 |
3.2 |
3.20 |
Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio |
|
Punjab |
1800 |
10.8 |
10.80 |
Bharti Airtel, Idea, Vodafone |
|
Rajasthan |
1800 |
5.2 |
5.20 |
Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone |
|
Tamil Nadu |
1800 |
41.6 |
41.60 |
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel |
|
Uttar Pradesh (East) |
1800 |
12.2 |
12.80 |
Vodafone, Telewings Communications, Aircel |
|
Uttar Pradesh (West) |
1800 |
12.4 |
18.99 |
Telewings Communications |
|
West Bengal |
1800 |
4.2 |
4.92 |
Reliance Jio, Aircel, Bharti Airtel |