The DoT said that the 3G auctions ended on Wednesday but the names of the winners have not been announced yet.

On the 34th day of the 3G spectrum auction, a pan-India licence for all 22 circles touched Rs 17,000 crore, against a base price of Rs 3,500 crore, taking the overall price of the third generation radio waves to Rs 70,000 crore.

The government’s revenues from the 3G spectrum are much higher than its original estimates and even surpassed its revised estimates by a hefty amount. The government had budgeted revenues of Rs 35,000 crore from sale of air waves for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) put together.

Nine companies — Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Aircel, Etisalat, S Tel and Videocon Telecommunications — took part in the online auction that started April 9.

The auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum would begin soon after the 3G auction is over. The 3G auction had commenced on 9 April, 2010 and there were nine bidders in the fray for the slots of 3G spectrum on the block. 

Download 3G Auction Update: 18th May 2010 for complete auction details.