MUMBAI: The government has mopped up Rs 77,000 crore from the sale of telecom spectrum, surpassing the amount grossed in last year’s sale, as top carriers Bharti Airtel Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular shed caution and made competitive bids on day three of the auctions to secure airwaves in circles where their licences are due to expire. These operators are competing with Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, and other players such as Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices.At the end of 17 rounds on the third day of the auctions, bids worth Rs 77,000 crore had come in for spectrum across all bands after six rounds of bidding through the day. Bidding intensity was high mostly in the refarmed 900MHz band, and some in the 800MHz band, which can be used for 4G data technology. Refarming refers to spectrum being used by a telecom company and which the government has put back on the market. “The time has come for operators to start picking circles rather than defend all of them,” said a senior executive at a leading telecom company.Some spectrum still remains to be sold, and there was outstanding demand in the 900MHz band for Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh (East). In the run-up to the auctions, analysts had said Idea may need to shed some circles such as Karnataka, while Reliance Communications may opt not to bid in some areas because of agreements lined up to share services with peers such as Aircel and Tata Teleservices. Bidding was seen in the 800 MHz band in Haryana, J&K, Orissa. In the 2100 MHz band, suitable for 3G services, bidding intensity eased as operators focused elsewhere.The Centre expects Rs 43,161.72 crore from the sale, one-time spectrum levy and annual licence fees put together within this fiscal ending March. Around a third from the auction proceeds will come in this financial year to March end. Operators pay onethird of the committed amount upfront. This is followed by a two-year moratorium after which the remaining amount is paid in 10 equal installments. Eight mobile phone companies — some of which are headed by the country’s top industrialists, including Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Sunil Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, and the Tatas — are bidding for a total of 465 MHz of spectrum across four bands, in the much-anticipated auction which began on Wednesday.The government has put up 103.75 MHz in 800 MHz band, 177.8 MHz in 900 MHz band, 99.2 MHz in 1,800 MHz band — which are historically considered 2G bands — and 85 MHz in the 2100 MHz band, considered the 3G band. In India, the term 2G refers to basic cellular services focused on voice, while 3G refers to faster internet access, thus enabling subscribers to access data, video clips and so on. However, since operators are paying market prices, they can offer any service they chose to.The 900 MHz band, considered most efficient and, hence, more expensive than the other 2G bands, saw most activity on the second day as telcos fought to win back spectrum in the areas where their mobile permits are set to expire in 2015-16.Bharti, Idea, Vodafone and RCOM are fighting to win back spectrum in 6, 9, 7 and 7 circles, respectively, in the 900 MHz band. This band alone can contribute over Rs 40,000 crore, or roughly half of the auction proceeds at base price, while the next largest chunk of over Rs 17,500 crore is expected to come from airwaves in the 2100 MHz band.Newcomer Jio, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani which is expected to launch telecom services later this year, is looking to add more data bandwidth, which could be in the 900 MHz band and even 800 MHz band, which can be used for a technology called 4G LTE. Other bidders include Tata Teleservices, Uninor and Aircel, who are widely regarded as fringe players interested solely in 2100 MHz, or 3G airwaves.