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3G auction: Bid up 73% to Rs 60.68 bn
NEW DELHI: The pan India bid price at the 3G auction has reached Rs 60.68 billion, 73 per cent up from the base price of Rs 35 billion, after the end of the eighth day. A total of 46 clock rounds have been completed.
Mumbai and Tamil Nadu have joined Delhi with bids for more than Rs 6 billion. The bid for Delhi circle was Rs 6.91 billion, while Mumbai trailed at Rs 6.35 billion and Tamil Nadu Rs 6.06 billion.
The bid for Gujarat steadied at Rs 5.49 billion, lower than the bid for the rest of Maharashtra which closed today at Rs 5.89 billion.
The bid for Andhra Pradesh was at Rs 5.24 billion, lower than Karnataka’s closing bid of Rs 5.39 billion.
Kolkata received a bid of Rs 1.81 billion, only marginally above Saturday’s bid of Rs 1.74 billion.
While east Uttar Pradesh closed with a bid of Rs 2.35 billion, west Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 2.44 billion. Madhya Pradesh had a bid of Rs 2.23 billion.
Kerala stopped at Rs 2.06 billion, Punjab at Rs 1.34 billion, Haryana at Rs 1.83 billion, and rest of West Bengal at Rs 1.24 billion.
The bids for some states remained unchanged: Rajasthan at Rs 2.21 billion (bid on Saturday); Assam, Orissa and Jammu & Kashmir service areas and Himachal Pradesh at Rs 300 million each, the north-east at Rs 303 million, and Bihar at Rs 327.6 million. These states along with Punjab and Haryana are not expected to see any change tomorrow, with no price increment for the next round.
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.
The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.
The auction, which began on 9 April 9 may take about two weeks to complete and the government is expecting total revenue from the 3G and BWA auctions to go way beyond its earlier estimated figure of Rs 350 billion.
The BWA auction will begin after the 3G auction and 11 telecom companies – Aircel Ltd, Augere (Mauritius), Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Reliance WiMax, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar – have qualified, according to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
