India's BWA concludes, raising $5.5 B : Infotel wins in all 22 circles

India’s Broadband Wireless Auction ended after 117 rounds, raking in nearly $5.5 billion for the government. Infotel Broadband Services Ltd. was the big winner, paying $2.74 billion for licenses in all 22 circles. Interestingly, Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. announced that it is buying 95% of Internet service provider Infotel.
State-owned operators Bharat Sangar Nigam Ltd. and Mahanagar Telelphone Nigam Ltd. are required to match the auction prices paid for their spectrum, bringing the auction proceeds to more than $8 billion.
Reliance, which is paying about $1 billion for Infotel, said it will use LTE technology to bring mobile broadband services on its new spectrum. “RIL sees the broadband opportunity as a new frontier of knowledge economy in which it can take a leadership position and provide India with an opportunity to be in the forefront among the countries providing world-class 4G network and services. A single 20-megahertz TDD spectrum when used with LTE (Long Term Evolution) has the potential of providing greater capacity when compared to existing communication infrastructure in the country,” the company said. Reliance is India’s largest private-sector company, with a net worth of $30.6 billion.
Qualcomm Inc., which entered the auction to push LTE technology for the BWA licensees rather than WiMAX, picked up licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryan, paying just over $1 billion for the licenses. The San Diego-based company said it would soon announce its Indian partners to comply with Indian Foreign Direct Investment regulations.
Of the 11 bidders, six won licenses. Other winners include Bharti (four licenses); Aircel, (eight licenses); Tikona, (five licenses); and Augere, (one license).
All licenses are provisional wins by the Indian government at this point.
The Indian government concluded its 3G auction last month, raising nearly $14.6 billion.