Telecom stocks see mixed trend

Shares of Bharti Airtel closed marginally higher by 0.23 per cent at Rs 260.15 and Idea Cellular closed at Rs 53.25, up 0.95 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange, after a good intra-day rally.

The auction for 3G mobile spectrum licences closed yesterday, leaving finance minister Pranab Mukherjee with Rs 67,719 crore (around USD 15 billion), which is almost twice the revenue he expected to raise. Other telecom gainers were TTML (0.76 per cent) and Tata Communications (0.10 per cent).

Meanwhile, stocks which bucked the trend and closed down were Reliance Communications (0.73 per cent) and HFCL (0.19 per cent).The pan-India bid for a third generation radio frequency stood at Rs 16,750.58 crore and the Anil Ambani-led RCom bagged the highest number of 13 circles, followed by Bharti in 12, Idea in 11 and Vodafone and the Tatas in nine circles each, according to the department of telecom. The government had estimated to raise Rs 35,000 crore from 3G spectrum sale and broadband wireless access (BWA). But with the auction for BWA spectrum yet to begin, the revenue mop-up could go up further.