From correspondents in Delhi, India, 04:00 PM IST

The government has zeroed in on Mumbai-based NM Rothschild and Sons as the agency to conduct online auctions for allocating third generation radio frequencies in India, the government said.

The technical quotations of eligible bidders were opened Sep 29.

'The financial bid of the technical qualified bidder will be opened Oct 3,' an official release said.

Three companies - mjunction, Rothschild and Sai Information System - had been shortlisted as eligible bidders out of the four to have submitted bids for selection as the agency to oversee the e-auction of spectrum allocation for third generation (3G) and Broadband Wirelesss Access (BWA) services.

A state-owned bidder, MSTC Ltd, did not qualify for the technical bids.

According to the Department of Telecom (DoT) guidelines, all bidders - both Indian and foreign firms, if any - were required to declare their shareholding patterns.

Potential bidders were also barred from having more than 10 percent stake in any telecom or Internet service provider in India.

Under the guidelines, only those companies with a paid-up capital of Rs.25 million, a net worth of at least Rs.100 million, and experience in conducting similar auctions were eligible to apply.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)