Updated: 3G Auction completed after 34 days of bidding

[::Hitesh:: 1,763]

[Greatest 55]

[vvinayakpai 26]

Court refuses to stay 3G auction

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay at this stage a Delhi High Court judgment declining to interfere with the 3G spectrum and Broadband Wireless Access auction slated for Friday.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan, without granting any immediate relief, posted the Special Leave Petition challenging the High Court judgment for hearing on April 16.

The CJI told counsel for the appellant, “you are not the bidder. It is filed for somebody else.” Justice Chauhan observed “You are a ‘benami' litigant. You have no right to pray for stay of the auction process.”

Petitioner Umesh Joshi filed a Public Interest Litigation against the applications for auction of 3G and BWA spectrum on February 25, and fixing the last date of submission of applications on March 19.

He questioned the short time given for submission of application forms.

He contended that since only 20 to 25 days' time was given, only big bidders could participate in the auction.

SOURCE: http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/09/stories/2010040963791500.htm

[Arun 795]

3G, broadband wireless auctions may last 45 days

9 Apr 2010, 0312 hrs IST - Economic Times

The auctions for 3G and broadband wireless airwaves that gets underway on April 9 is slated to be a long-drawn affair,

stretching for as long as 45 days, said an official involved in the sale process.

“The 3G airwaves sale may last about 15-20 days, while the bidding process for broadband wireless access (BWA) frequencies may take even longer,” this official, who did not wish to be named, said. Bidding for broadband spectrum will begin two days after the completion of 3G spectrum auction.

Asked whether a marathon auction could hurt bidder appetite for 3G spectrum in India, a senior executive from one of India’s biggest telecom companies said: “It’s possible, but unlikely. The auction process could actually last for days as DoT has decided to invite bids for 22 circles in tandem. But it should not hurt telco appetite. It certainly did not in the UK, where the 3G airwaves auction continued for seven weeks, involving 150 rounds of bidding.”

But what’s really interesting is the care that has gone into designing the 3G airwaves auction mechanism in India that is slated to pre-empt collusive bidding. Unlike most traditional auctions, “it will be the auctioneer who will drive the process and not the bidders,” a senior government official told ET, requesting anonymity. Experts agree that the auction is largely foolproof. “The 3G spectrum auction design deters collusive bidding. To prevent a bidder acting in concert from using specific bids to signal intentions to each other, the auctioneer (NM Rothschild & Sons and DotEcon), will present the bids in an ascending order. The bidders need to either accept the auctioneer’s proposal or decline. This is unlike other auction systems where it is the bidder who quotes sums in an increasing order,” said telecom analyst Mahesh Uppal, who is director, Com First (India).

During the span of the auction, the operators will have to match DoT’s base price, which will be revised at each round. The revisions can range between 10%-1% over the previous round’s price depending on demand. The base price for pan-India 3G airwaves has been pegged at Rs 3,500 crore, while for BWA airwaves, it is Rs 1,750 crore. The government will auction three slots of 3G airwaves in 17 telecom services areas and four in the other five. Only two slots will be up for sale for broadband airwaves. The auction will be a protracted business as it will involve multi-staged bidding that will be conducted online in the nature of an ascending e-auction.

For instance, consider circles such as Mumbai or Delhi where say six telcos are bidding for 3G frequencies. The auction starts with a reserve price of Rs 320 crore in each circle, and if all six telcos decide to bid, the auctioneer would raise the bid sum by 10% at every stage till the difference between the number of slots and bidders is less than three. Thereafter, DoT will keep raising the bid amount by 5% till the difference between the number of slots and the bidders is down to one. At this stage, when four telcos will be vying for three slots, DoT would hike the bid amount by 1% till there is ‘equilibrium’ — resulting in three telcos targeting three slots.

Incidentally, at any stage during the auction, a bidder can pull out from one circle and transfer the bid amount to another circle. The auction will go on till all circles reach an equilibrium state.

The auction will come to a halt if during the process of raising the bid amount by 1% a bidder pulls out and the number of slots exceed the number of bidders.

[Arun 795]

Check out the bidding process presentation here: http://www.dot.gov.in/as/Auction%20of%20Spectrum%20for3G%20&%20BWA/Public%20Presentation_6%20April%202010.pdf

[amitnsonu 72]

any update ?

[rahulmalik_81 1]

i think this bidding process is not full proof and govt. may not get what it is desiring.

[Arun 795]

3G auction Day 1: Total bid level at Rs 16,000cr

Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 23:17 | Source : CNBC-TV18

The much anticipated 3G auctions kicked off today. In a CNBC-TV18 exclusive interview, telecom minister A Raja said that the bidders were showing high motivation in the auction and that govt may allocate additional spectrum to winners based on TRAI's recommendations. CNBC-TV18's Siddharth Zarabi reports on the auction activity on Day 1.

The official press release from the Department of Telecom while summarizing the activity of the auction for Day 1 says that five clock rounds were completed today. The total number of rounds completed to date are five. The total bids received in value terms, is Rs 16,000 crore. All 22 circles on offer for 3G have received bids. Nine circles have seen demand lesser than the number of slots that are being offered. Other circles have seen demand which is equal to or greater than the number of slots that have been offered. The following breakup gives a sense of what the competitive landscape is about.

There are no details about who has bid what, who are the companies in the race or who are out of it is not known as yet. Delhi, in the fifth round saw a bid of Rs 373.29 crore, the aggregate demand at round five price was 3. There is no excess demand. Three slots are available. There is no excess demand. The next level, the addition will be Rs 3.73 crore. Mumbai comes next in terms of the level of demand at Rs 362.66 crore. Aggregate demand at the end of round five is 4. Excess demand is 1.

Maharashtra, Gujarat. Andhra Pradesh have seen excess demand. Tamil Nadu circles like Karnataka, Kolkata, Kerala, Punjab have seen equivalent demand. Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (West) are two circles that have seen no excess demand.

Nine circles have actually seen a negative number. Haryana, where the round price in round 5 was Rs 134.65 crore. Aggregate demand at the round 5 price was 2, excess demand at this round was -1 (minus one). The -1 figure also applies to Rajasthan, it applies to West Bengal, it applies to Himachal Pradesh but with -3. Bihar with -3, Orissa with -3, Assam -3, North East -2 and Jammu and Kashmir -4. Virtually all the four slots in Jammu and Kashmir is seeing negative demand.

The key design of this auction was as long as there are four or more bidders the increment level which is a predetermined level will be 10% falling to 5% falling to one 1%. So the two key takeaways at this stage is that the first day round has proceeded far faster than expectation. That is point number one. Some industry people who were involved in the bids said that the bids went beyond they went faster than they had expected.

One new operator whose bid is lesser than for the national circles seems to have slowed down may not have dropped out. There is no official confirmation. The press statement does not say this.

Given this, the government still maintains that it will take two weeks for this auction, the 3G auction only to take place. Industry seems to have a different view because the industry expects not more than 16 to 20 rounds for the entire 3G auction across 22 circles to pan out. This does not mean that circles are seeing negative demand. It means that they will not ultimately see demand. The bidders are allowed to come back after taking a break and they can take an aggregate break of one hour. It is a very complicated way but a bidder who may have bid for circle X today can come back till the last moment of the auction to get back in.

So clearly at this point that we can conclude is, aggregate total price demand in terms of realization is expected at Rs 16,000 crore. 80% activity levels, which is not very good, Government sources told me that they expect the 80% level to go to 90% and eventually 100% which means that it will be completed.

Sunday will be a holiday. All public holidays will be off for the auction.

On the Rs 16,000 crore total bid value:

The Rs 16,000 crore is in some ways better than what was initially expected. We have to consider this number in the context of the reserve price that has been set of Rs 3,500 crore which is nationwide. It is not an equal division for 22 circles. In the C category circles the reserve price is far lower, A category circles like Delhi, Mumbai have a far higher reserve price.

The sense is that bidders have been conservative in their approach. There is no irrational or desperate bidding that can be seen from these numbers. They are watching what other bids are coming in. They do not know who is putting in that bid. They can only see that number flashing.

So Rs 16,000 crore really means that the target that the minister told CNBC-TV18 earlier in the day is on track. We could perhaps see it being exceeded beyond that level. The only issue of concern is the lack of activity in several circles. But that can be attributed to the fact that they are category C circles which will see demand emerging at the end of the day.

[Greatest 55]

Good going telcos... Gujjuland.. 3g, here we come...

[Arun 795]

3G Auction update as of April 16, 2010: http://www.dot.gov.in/as/Auction%20of%20Spectrum%20for3G%20&%20BWA/Auction%20results/3G_-_16_April_2010.pdf

[HetalDP 947]

Ohoohoh Gujjuland is getting highest bid ???

Sub Gujju Mobile pe 3G leke Karne kya wale hai ?

Kalpak Kunal Operators have high hopes on u to spend ??? lol ??

[Greatest 55]

Gujarat has the highest amount of shares trading... you should be knowing this... Gujjus were mad after something like unlimited EVDO on BSNL was started... same way i guess for 3g they are expecting so much.. lolz...

But the operators are not understanding the fact that gujjus spend less (the mass market) for anything... so it is unimaginable if they would get the amount of revenue they spend for the state on the auctions..

At the end of the day, we gujjus rejoice.. and the govt takes a super kitty home..

cheers to gujjus in gujjuland..

[me_saket 73]

it was very strange,

When 3g auction was not sarter/delayed, this thead was active.

Everybody was discussing on this,

But since auction sarted about 7days ago, this is first day we(rimweberian) stated discussing,

Thanks to ARUN to keep it alive, file u had uploaded is being track by me, everyday, but never posted link or discussed here.

THIS is fact, and TRUE story of life.

We never discuss wat is present, but always trying to find FUTURE and talk about PAST

[srk006 21]

^^^ well there is nothing exciting to talk about in the auction. Once we come to know of winners, the thread will be back on fire.

[Mufaddal 678]

@saket

buddy , dont u think its been way toooooo long that we are waiting for 3G

we used to discuss this a lot about 3G and stuff few months back , but seeing how out telecom ministry acted and kept delaying 3G auctions , we just got bored of waiting

infact most of us are not even bothered now about 3G , looking at the fact that world will be going 4G in 2011

its just that too much of wait had its toll on members and until anything concrete comes out its makes no sense to discuss

thats why this thread wasnt active , coz it was of no use to discuss about 3G when nothing concrete was coming out , now since at last telecomm ministry and trai have decided to give us 3G by the time others use 4G , people started to show interest and post

we do talk about present and future both

but we dont talk about castles in air , hope u got my point

[srk006 21]

Day 7 Update

Pan-India 3G bid price up 63 pc, Delhi regains top slot

NEW DELHI: The seventh day of 3G spectrum auction saw a huge jump of 63 per cent in the bid price of all-India licence at Rs 5,710.36 crore over the base price, taking the total minimum revenue to Rs 22,841.44 crore.

Delhi, after losing its top position to Gujarat earlier, emerged as the most valuable circle at a bid value of Rs 626.37 crore followed by the Mumbai circle at Rs 598.59 crore at the end of 40 rounds, out of which six rounds were held today.

The government targets Rs 30,000-35,000 crore from the sale of radio waves for 3G telephony and broadband wireless access services. The base price has been kept at Rs 3,500 crore.

Tamil Nadu logged in the third highest bid price of Rs 549.24 crore, followed by Gujarat that experienced negative demand at Rs 533.40 crore.

According to details available with the Department of Telecom, Maharashtra got a bid of Rs 533.37 crore, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh of Rs 507.97 crore and Rs 493.50 crore, respectively.

The bid for UP (East) was at Rs 228.59 crore, Uttar Pradesh (West) at Rs 225.74 crore, Rajasthan at Rs 220.70 crore, Madhya Pradesh at Rs 218.23 crore, Kerala at Rs 190.52 crore and Haryana at Rs 170.69 crore.

Kolkata and Punjab circles saw bid prices of Rs 174.25 crore and Rs 132.51 crore, respectively.

West Bengal saw a bid price of Rs 123.63 crore, with one of the circles witnessing negative demand. Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) too continued to see negative demand at Rs 30 crore bid levels, except Bihar and North East where it was Rs 32.44 crore and Rs 30.30 crore, respectively.

The government is auctioning three slots of 3G airwaves in 17 telecom service areas. Only two slots are up for sale across the country for broadband airwaves, which will begin after the 3G auction.

Source

[srk006 21]

All-India 3G bid more than doubles to Rs 7,599 cr

NEW DELHI: Registering the fastest rise in revenues for the government on a single day since the auction process started, the bid price for all-India 3G spectrum shot up by more than 100 percent at Rs 7,599 crore on Day 12, ensuring the exchequer a minimum of Rs 30,756 crore.

On the 12th day of the auction, the reserve price increased by about Rs 2,528 crore, the fastest rise in a day since April 9, when the auction started.

Delhi, the most-coveted circle, saw the bid price touching Rs 1,030.72 crore, the highest among all the circles, followed by Mumbai at Rs 989.48 crore.

However in Delhi circle, there is no excess demand as of now. The operators can always return and put their bid for the said circle as it happened earlier.

Maharashtra circle, for which the bid price stood at Rs 746.50 crore has a negative demand of two blocks against three blocks put on sale.

According to sources in the DoT, the activity level is still at 80 per cent, meaning that operators are concentrating now only on metros and A category service areas.

The government has budgeted for Rs 35,000 crore from the auctions of 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum.

Going by the current bid rates, the government is set to achieve its target of Rs 35,000 crore from the sale 3G spectrum alone.

The Telecom Minister A Raja had recently exuded confidence that the revenue from the sale of 3G and BWA spectrum is likely to touch Rs 45,000 crore.

The government had set a base price of Rs 3,500 crore for Pan-India 3G spectrum and Rs 1,750 crore for pan-India BWA spectrum.

Auction for broadband wireless access, or BWA, would start after two days of the close of 3G auction.

As many as 70 rounds of auction were completed till the 12th day.

In 3G mobile telephony, three private operators are allowed and in some few states four. The spectrum would be distributed in September after the DoT gets the airwaves from the defence forces.

However, for BWA only two slots are available. With 11 operators in the fray to grab spectrum with only two slots on the block there may be aggressive bidding.

Source

[Arun 795]

3G Auctions Go On and On, But What Were You Expecting?

Wall Street Journal - May 13, 2010, 12:21 PM IST

India’s bandwidth auction for third-generation mobile services have been dragging on for more than a month. The end may be near, experts say, as bids for single slots of coverage have crossed the $3 billion mark.

To 3G-auction watchers, however, the lengthy bidding process hasn’t come as a surprise.

Similar auctions in the United Kingdom at the start of the decade lasted more than a month and a half, and New Zealand’s lasted about 18 months, though the Kiwis were auctioning different sets and phases of licenses and bandwidth.

Indian telecommunications service providers are hoping that the similarities end there.

In the U.K., bidding was also aggressive, with one slot going for about $6 billion, and operators faced unexpectedly high debt that delayed the launch of commercial 3G services. The technology was called a failure, and some say that British carriers are still paying the price.

“If the auction stops in the next one or two days, then it will not result in operators getting into a debt trap, though profits may be hit,” said Prashant Singhal, head of Ernst & Young India’s telecom practice.

If bids go well above 150 billion rupees (US$3.33 billion), “it would be detrimental to the industry,” he added.

All eyes are hence on the end game. Will it turn out to be a winner’s curse?

3G Auction update until May 12, 2010

[iyappan 8]

3G auctions end, Government to get nearly Rs 70,000 crore

NDTV Correspondent & Agencies, 19 May, 2010

The Department of Telecommunications said that the 3G auctions ended on Wednesday but the names of the winners were not announced yet.

Today was the thirty-fourth day of the bidding. The government is assured of getting nearly Rs 70,000 crore from this auction, sources said.

The government’s revenues from the 3G spectrum are much higher than its original estimates and even surpassed its revised estimates by a hefty amount. The government had budgeted revenues of Rs 35,000 crore from sale of air waves for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) put together.

The auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum would begin soon after the 3G auction is over.

[Arun 795]

CNBC reports:

No Pan India Operator Seen

Idea Cellular, Bharti AirTel, Vodafone win few circles

Broadband-wimax auctions to start in 2 days

Official announcement from DoT expected after 5 PM IST

[Arun 795]

Please continue in this topic