NEW DELHI: The Central government’s second 5G spectrum action on Wednesday saw subdued bidding by telecom companies, which collectively bid Rs 11,340 crore for a total 141.4 MHz of airwaves. The bid value amounts to just 12% of the reserve price of Rs 96,238 crore. The auction concluded in two days with seven rounds of bidding.
Bharti Airtel emerged the top bidder by acquiring airwaves worth Rs 6,856.76 crore, followed by Vodafone Idea at Rs 3,510 crore. India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio had deposited the highest earnest money of Rs 3,000 crore but it bid only Rs 973.62 crore to pick up additional spectrum.
In the previous 5G spectrum auction held in August 2022, the government had fetched a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The lukewarm response this time is attributed to the fact that most telecom service providers (TSPs), except Reliance Jio, participated in the auction mostly to renew their expired spectrums.
Bharti Airtel, led by Sunil Mittal, acquired 97 MHz of spectrum to renew its expiring licences and also to bolster its mid-band spectrum holdings across select circles. Bharti Hexacom, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, acquired 15 MHz of airwaves for Rs 1,001 crore.
Vodafone Idea picked up 50 MHz spectrum across low band and mid band series (900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2500 MHz) in as many as 11 circles.
Reliance Jio acquired additional spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in Bihar and West Bengal. The radiowaves on offer carry voice and data signals for mobile phones.
“Spectrum auction 2024 was part of a continuous allocation process... TSPs have taken spectrum not only for continuity of service but for expanding their services but the volume is limited because already a large part of the spectrum required was auctioned only last year,” said Union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Lukewarm response
This year’s auction included spectrum across various bands — 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz. However, telcos showed interest only in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, and 2500 MHz bands.