The long awaited 3G auctions are finally going to start today in India with 9 Operators including the top 3 players – Airtel , Vodafone and Reliance
The Government is expecting to raise thousands of crores from the 3G auctions . Several operators have raised money for the bidding process and some are using reserves. Vodafone has taken a loan from SBI for Rs.10,000 crores in the past . Airtel is using cash reserves of Rs.8000 crore. Although 3G auctions will complete in a few weeks , service will start only in September or next year.
It will be interesting to see how the Operators charge for 3G services considering the huge amounts they are spending to get the 3G License. But personally I fell 3G Tariffs will be expensive initially.
India badly needs 3G services to go live as soon as possible as we are lagging behind from the rest of the world. Our broadband penetration levels are so low but mobile phone subscriber base is so high and reached 600 million last month. Mobile Internet usage is already high in India but 3G will help million of users get connected
Lets wish all the companies participating in the Auctions – All the very best !