11 Telecom companies including Qualcomm are expected to bid in the broadband wireless spectrum auctions (BWA) starting Monday on May 24. 

11 Telecom companies including Qualcomm are expected to bid in the broadband wireless spectrum auctions (BWA) starting Monday on May 24. 

BWA auction is expected to be as fiery as that of 3G because at stake are 20 MHz of spectrum.The reserve price for BWA spectrum has been fixed at Rs 1,750 crore. BWA spectrum is necessary for rolling out WiMAX services and enable hand-held devices and laptops access the Internet. BWA spectrum can be used for WiMax as well as for TD-LTE.

Bharti Airtel, Reliance WiMax, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Augere Mauritius Limited, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar will participate in the BWA auction. 

Qualcomm’s participation in India’s Broadband Wireless Access auction is expected to help the company in accelerating the use of TD-LTE. India’s 2.3 GHz spectrum band is well suited for TD-LTE technology.  China Mobile already showcasing TD-LTE at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Huawei Technologies is betting big on this opportunity and aims to leverage on its end-to-end product portfolio to tap this opportunity according to a Telecom Tiger article.

“The entry of 3G and BWA services will see a tremendous impact on the stakeholders in the telecom industry particularly the consumers and operators,” says, A.Sethu Raman, Executive Director, Product & Solution, Huawei India while speaking to TelecomTiger. “While presently the focus is on voice-based services, the advent of mobile broadband will result in the power of internet being available on mobile handsets in a much more enhanced way in terms of end-user experience as compared to present scenario,” adds Sethu Raman.

As per data compiled by the telecom regulator, India had a mere 8.75 million broadband users as of March-end 2010. Poor broadband penetration is seen a roadblock impacting the country’s ambitious economic expansion and social justice programmes. 

The government managed to raise Rs 67,719 crore and experts believe that the BWA license would be sold for around Rs 8,375 crore. 

The auction for the 3G spectrum allocation has completed last week, after a fierce bidding of 34 days. The all-India licence was last bid for Rs 16,751 crore. The government has garnered revenue worth Rs 67,719 crore.