India’s leading operators have confirmed that they will participate in the country’s upcoming spectrum auctions, which look set to net the government a hefty return.
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications have all submitted applications to bid in the auctions for 900MHz and 1800MHz frequencies. The auctions will begin on February 3rd.
Smaller operators taking part include Telenor India and surprise entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm, which already holds 4G spectrum.
The strong competition will likely result in higher bids, helping the government hit its projected target of raising $1.8 billion from the auction.
