Deadline for 3G bids ends, foreign cos stay away

The deadline for submitting bids for 3G and broadband wireless access expired today. Top telcos including Bharti, Reliance Communications and Vodafone are all in the fray. International players stayed away, reports CNBC-TV18's Siddharth Zarabi.

In the two slots available in the WiMax space, 11 companies have put in bids, while nine companies are in the fray for 3-4 3G slots. There are six peers, companies which have bid both for WiMax and 3G, including Bharti, Reliance Communications, and Tatas. There are three standalone bids in the 3G space and four standalone bids in the wiMax space.

The bidders in 3G include Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Etisalat DB, STel, Idea Cellular, Videocon, Tata Tele, and Aircel.

Bidders for WiMax include Qualcomm, Tikona Digital, Tata Tele Internet, Reliance Communications, Spice, Vodafone Essar, Bharti, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata Communications, Augere and HFCL.

Early estimates suggest a likelihood of touching if not surpassing the budget estimate of Rs 35,000 crore. Foreign companies have given the process a big thumbs down. The real issue is how many of these would look at trading these licenses because there are some who have not even setup a single network in India.