The 3G auction ended on Wednesday with bids for pan-India license hitting Rs 16,828 crore.

The auctioning process leaves the Union Government with an income of Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion), double the amount it projected to collect.

The 3G services raises the level of services like multimedia, speedy mobile broadband, internet access with the ability to view video footage on users' handsets.

According to reports, Bharti Airtel, Idea and Vodafone Essar have bagged in some of the circles in the auction, which lasted 34 days.

Details of who have secured all-India licence are awaited.

The latest figures showed that pan-India license bid hit a mark of Rs 16,828 crore as against the reserve price of Rs 3,500 crore.

With the close of auction for 3G telephony spectrum, the Centre govt would start the auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum in the coming days.

Nine top mobile operators, which comprise Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCom and the Tatas, had entered the auction to grab spectrum for 3G services. (With Inputs from Agencies)