The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has released the list of pre-qualified bidders for the upcoming auction scheduled for March 2015. According to the released document, six telecom operators, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and Uninor will be able to bid for spectrum in the 2100 MHz, 1800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz bands.

However, DoT has allowed Aircel and Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), to only bid for spectrum in various bands in the circles where they already hold spectrum. The two operators will not be able to either expand their geographical coverage area or buy frequency airwaves in a new band in circles where it holds spectrum. The non-eligibility of Aircel and TTSL is in line with the auction regulation where in a telecom operator should have a net worth of at least Rs 1 billion. However, both the operators have declared a negative net worth for the spectrum auctions.