Telecom stocks on Thursday fell up to 4 per cent after the Government fixed a higher base price for 3G spectrum auction at Rs3,705 crore per mega hertz. Shares of Idea Cellular fell by 3.92 per cent to end at Rs159.50 on the BSE. During the day, the stock lost 4.48 per cent to Rs158.55. Bharti Airtel fell by 2.8 per cent to Rs363.25 before settling marginally higher at Rs 375.15 in an overall strong market.
Reliance Communications dropped 1.13 per cent to settle at Rs78.75 on BSE. Eyeing a record-high spectrum sale of Rs1 lakh crore, the Government on last Wednesday fixed the base price for 3G auction at Rs 3,705 crore per mega hertz. Government would garner an estimated Rs17,000 crore from the 3G band. Along with the spectrum in 2,100 MHz band, which is used to offer 3G services, the government will also offer second generation or 2G mobile airwaves in three different bands in an auction scheduled for March 4.
The base price suggested by the Telecom Commission is around 11 per cent higher than what telecom firms paid for in the 2010 auction. It is also 36 per cent higher than sectoral regulator TRAI’s recommendation of Rs2,720 crore per Mhz.