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Abiding by the promise it made during the auction, the government is all set to start the allocation of much awaited 3G spectrum to the winners of bids from today.

Successful players who spent a hefty amount for the spectrum were worried about the delay in allotment of the same as defense establishment of the country was reluctant about releasing the radio waves for private players until they get an alternative spectrum.

However, the forces had already released two slots of spectrum before the auction, while the third was to be released later. Defense forces have also got a waiver of about Rs. 10,000 crore for spectrum charges, which enabled smooth release of the third block of 3G spectrum.

Bharti Airtel, RCOM, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, Aircel and others will start receiving the spectrum of frequency 25Mhz from today. On the other hand, state run Telcos such as MTNL and BSNL already possess the spectrum far ahead of private players.

Bharti Airtel and RCOM both managed to win 3G spectrum in 13 of the 22 telecom circles. Other major players like Vodafone Essar, Aircel, Idea Cellular and Tata won a total of 13, 9, 11 and 9 circles, respectively.

The 3G auction was held in April-May this year and the government earned revenues of over Rs. 67,000 crore. A total of Rs. 1.06 lakh crore was earned from both the 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum auction.

The advent of 3G in the country paves the way for consumers to enjoy high-end services such as video calling, interactive gaming and high-speed internet using phones by the end of this year.

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