Details of license winners in India's $17.5 billion spectrum sale were released yesterday, showing that India's three biggest mobile operators had managed to cling on to their 900MHz holdings and pick up new airwaves for the rollout of 3G services. (See India's Mega Spectrum Sale Garners $17.5B and India's Spectrum Sale Shatters Records .)

Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL), Vodafone India and Idea Cellular Ltd. -- which had all been fighting to defend existing 2G operations -- stumped up as much as 78% of the total auction proceeds, while Reliance Communications Ltd. (the country's number-four player) appeared to lose some of its 900MHz concessions and Uninor walked away from process empty-handed.

Although India's Department of Telecom (DoT) has released provisional results, they remain subject to government approval as well as a Supreme Court ruling on complaints about the auction procedures. In the meantime, Light Reading has prepared a breakdown of how each player performed on this provisional basis.

Idea Cellular
At risk of losing mobile licenses covering nine circles (or service areas), Idea Cellular was an especially aggressive bidder in the 900MHz band. In total, it procured 54MHz in this frequency range at a cost of INR276.4 billion ($4.4 billion). But it secured just 20.4MHz in the 1800MHz band and only 5MHz in the 2.1GHz band and did not even bid for spectrum on offer in the 800MHz band. Evidently, Idea's idea was to focus its energies on 900MHz spectrum and look to 1800MHz and 2.1GHz only in circles where it could not procure the former.

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Bharti Airtel
Like Idea, Bharti Airtel decided to give 800MHz a miss. It bought 61.2MHz in the 900MHz band and bid fairly aggressively for 2.1GHz, securing 35MHz in this frequency range. That suggests the operator is eager to extend its 3G services into previously underserved areas.

The operator, India's largest, spent INR222.54 billion ($3.56 billion) on securing 900MHz spectrum in 10 circles and another INR10.42 billion ($167 million) on 1800MHz licenses covering six circles. Its 35MHz of 2.1GHz spectrum, which covers a total of seven circles, came at a cost of INR58 billion ($933 million).

"The company's spectrum acquisition strategy is aimed at enhancing its leadership position in the fast-growing data segment in the country," said Bharti Airtel in a statement.

Next page: Vodafone, RJio and RCom

Vodafone India
Vodafone India bought spectrum in 12 circles at an overall cost of INR258.1 billion ($4.1 billion), managing to renew 900MHz rights in all the six circles where licenses were due to expire later this year. Vodafone also gained 30MHz in the 2.1GHz band and another 5.6GHz in the 1800MHz range.

“With the spectrum acquired in this auction, we have ensured the continuity of our business and increased our capability to provide high speed 3G coverage to more areas," said Marten Pieters, Vodafone India's CEO, in a statement. (See Vodafone India Spends $4.1B on Spectrum .)

"Vodafone has committed a total of approximately INR258 billion [$4.1 billion] in this auction," he added. "This is on top of INR750 billion [$12 billion] we have already invested in the last five years. We will continue to invest in building our network in the coming years to harness the potential of the spectrum won."

Reliance Jio
In the run-up to the auction, Reliance Jio had made a bigger initial deposit than any other player, indicating that it wanted to capture a substantial amount of spectrum during the auction. Focusing on the 800MHz and 1800MHz bands, and totally ignoring the 900MHz and 2100MHz bands, RJio procured 800MHz spectrum in nine circles, at a cost of INR77.3 billion ($1.24 billion), and 1800MHz in six, for a fee of INR22 billion ($352 million), spending INR99.36 billion ($1.58 billion) in total.

Reliance Communications
Like RJio, Reliance Communications also focused its attention on 800MHz spectrum, acquiring airwaves in this range covering 11 circles. But it failed to renew 900MHz licenses in the circles of Assam, Bihar and West Bengal, hanging on to these frequencies only in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Surprisingly, the operator also picked up 1800MHz airwaves in many of the same circles where it became an 800MHz licensee, ignoring the 2.1GHz band altogether. The fact that RCom operates a CDMA network could explain its focus on the 800MHz band. Overall, the operator spent INR42.28 billion ($676 million) on spectrum.

Besides these players, Tata Teleservices Ltd. acquired 800MHz spectrum in five circles and 1800MHz in two, while Aircel Ltd. bought 1800MHz in Tamil Nadu. Uninor , a subsidiary of Norway's Telenor Group (Nasdaq: TELN), emerged from the auction as the only operator that failed to pick up any airwaves whatsoever.

– Gagandeep Kaur, contributing editor, special to Light Reading