The telecom spectrum auction bids fell to ₹1.05 lakh crore at the end of day 15 on Friday, with six rounds of bidding taking place in the 2100 MHz, 1800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz bands. The bid amount had gone up to ₹1.09 lakh crore on Thursday.
There have been 92 rounds of bidding since the auction started on March 4. Bidding will continue on Saturday.
“Bidding is taking place in all bands. Brisk bidding was seen on 15th day, with activity requirement set at 100 per cent. There is robust bidding in 1800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz bands. At the end of 92nd round, about 88 per cent of the spectrum has been provisionally allocated to bidders,” the Department of Telecom said.
It said a majority of service areas are going at a premium over reserve price and competitive bidding is expected to continue.
In the 800 MHz, action was seen in circles, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and the North East, where the prices went up compared with the previous day and intensity up by over 100 per cent.
In the 900 MHz, the activity increased in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (both East and West) circles. The auction intensity grew more than 100 per cent in circles such as Assam (149.9 per cent), Bihar (172.2 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (112.8 per cent), Kerala (119.9 per cent) and Odisha (107.5 per cent).
Similarly, in the 1800 MHz, the prices increased in the Himachal Pradesh circle from the previous day’s bids. The intensity was more than 100 per cent in Kolkata (104.2 per cent).
However, no bidding continued in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and UP (both East and West) circles, in the 800 MHz. Similarly, in Bihar circle for the 1800 MHz.
In the 2100 MHz, telcos continued not to bid for Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai circles.