3G Auction Starts In India

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NEW DELHI,INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- The cell phone users who were waiting for months to get the experience of 3G telephony and data services have reasons to feel good about. The much delayed auction for 3G has started today as the Department of Telecom officials have confirmed. A number of leading private cellular service operators are in the bid including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, Reliance Telecommunications and Tata Teleservices. The government has set a target of Rs. 35,000 crore from the auction and it seems that it can be reached. The competition for 3G spectrum is going to be fierce given the fact that there are lots of Cellular operators in India these days and they will all vie for a share of the pie.

There is no fixed deadline for the closure of the 3G auction. Those who win in the race for 3G will get the chance to use the spectrum from September onwards. The 3G services will enable the users to download media content at unprecedented speed. As of now, the mobile users have to stick to GPRS and Edge for accessing internet from their handsets. It is quite fast but cannot be compared to broadband internet. As of now, BSNL only has 3G network in the country.

The initial cost of using the 3G network would be steep but as more players start offering the service, the cost will come down for sure. The auction will go on for some days as it is being expected. Indian cell phone users with 3G enabled handsets will be able to use the full potential of their handsets within a few months.