Only one bid, from Bharti Telenet Ltd, was received when India opened a third round of bids to set up basic telephone services in nine circles, or zones, the government said. The firm quoted $193m for a 15-year license to set up phone services in Madhya Pradesh, and the corresponding net present value, a benchmark of the levy at current financial terms, was $74m. The reserve price for the Madhya Pradesh circle was $59m. India, which is opening up telephone services to the private sector under its economic reform program says it has already awarded licenses for 10 of the 21 zones for which bids were originally invited.
