Spectrum auction ends with bids worth Rs 11,000 crore

The spectrum auction for mobile radiowave services worth Rs 96,000 crore concluded on June 26 after six rounds, with bids worth over Rs 11,000 crore being received, sources said. PTI,

The Department of Telecommunications has put up for auction over 10,500 MHz of spectrum in eight frequency bands – 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz and 26 GHz, at a base price of Rs 96,238 crore.

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL) are vying for radio waves crucial for high-speed 5G mobile services in these auctions, which are being held after a gap of nearly two years.

“There were no fresh bids in the morning session. The auction ended with bids worth around Rs 11,000 crore,” the source said, adding that Bharti Airtel emerged as the biggest bidder in the auction.

According to a CNBC-TV18 report, demand in the auction was focused on the 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz spectrum bands.

Sources said telecom operators placed bids worth Rs 11,000 crore on the first day of spectrum auction. There were five rounds of bidding in this auction.

Telecom expert Parag Kar estimates that on the first day, bids worth Rs 6,306.4 crore were received for the 1800 MHz band, Rs 4,465 crore for 900 MHz and Rs 360 crore for 2100 MHz.

During the last auction in 2022, which lasted seven days, a record 5G telecom spectrum worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore was sold, with billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio emerging as the top bidder, bagging nearly half of all airwaves (worth Rs 88,078 crore).

At that time, telecom baron Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel had made a successful bid of Rs 43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea had bought the spectrum for Rs 18,799 crore.

With inputs from PTI

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