Spectrum Auction : There Won’t Be Any Call Tariff Hike Says Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

26 March, New Delhi

Idea Cellular has placed the highest bid of Rs 30,306 crore in the latest round of spectrum auctions, whereas the Aircel offered the lowest at Rs 2,250 crore.

Revealing the name of eight successful bidders, after the supreme court allowed the government today, Minister for Communication and Information and Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, the entire bidding was conducted in a transparent and fair manner.

Refuting the industry speculations over the hike in call rates, the minister said there is no need to worry as there won’t be any tariff hike. He also asked the companies which qualified in bidding to pay their first installment before 31 March.

Bhaarti Airtel committed the second-highest amount of Rs 29,310 crore. Vodafone bid Rs 25,959 crore, Tata Teleservices Rs 7,851 crore and Reliance Communications bid Rs 4,299 crore. While Norway’s Telenor was the only company did not win any radio waves. The government has fetched about Rs 1.10 lakh crore after 19 days of rigorous bidding in the auctioning of telecom spectrum