The bid amount in India's wireless broadband services auction increased more than fivefold to $2.02 billion for one nationwide license in the broadband hungry country, the Department of Telecommunications said in Friday.
The auction ended its 10th day of bids on Friday with 77 rounds completed. In addition to one nationwide slot, the Indian government is auctioning two slots for wireless broadband services in the country's 22 service areas.
Eleven companies, including Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and top local mobile telephony providers such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, are bidding in the auction.
Not only is India a hotbed for broadband access given its low penetration rate of such services, but could help spur the deployment of TD-LTE technology, which at least Qualcomm plans to deploy with an Indian partner if the company wins a license.
For more:
- see this Total Telecom article
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