New Delhi, Mar 19 (IANS): Five telecom service operators, led by market leaders Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, have submitted their applications for the radio frequency spectrum for third generation telephony, officials said Thursday.

The government has also received applications for broadband services from QuLCOMM, Tata Communications, Tikona and Vodafone. The other three firms that have applied for 3G spectrum are Tata Teleservices, Britain-based Vodafone and Etisalat from the Gulf.

"We have submitted the application for 3G with department of telecommunications (DoT). It is for pan-India spectrum," a spokesperson from Airtel told IANS. "We cannot comment whether we will be submitting application for broadband wireless spectrum or not."

Friday is the last day for submitting applications to participate in the auction for 3G and broadband wireless access spectrum. The government hopes to garner $7.69 billion from the auctions.

The two state-run telecom companies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, were allotted licences for third generation telecom last year and both have since started offering the services in their operating circles.

Third generation telecom services allow faster connectivity than what is available now, and will enable applications such as Internet TV, video-on-demand, audio-video calls and high-speed data exchange.