5G Auction in India: From Reliance Jio to Bharti Airtel, who bought what and for how much

The mega auction of India’s 5G spectrum ended on Monday after 7 days of bidding. In these 7 days, the total bids that were received, were worth well over Rs 1.5 lakh crore, making it one of the biggest spectrum auctions in India.

The Government of India had offered 10 bands of India’s 5G spectrum. However, not all bands or airwaves were bid on. For example, no bids were received for the 600Mhz and 2300Mhz bands.

The auction was held for spectrum in various low-frequency bands which included  600MHz, 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2300Mhz, one mid-frequency band of 3300MHz and one high-frequency band of 26GHz.

Most of the bids were for the 3300MHz and the 26GHz frequency bands. These bands received over two-thirds of the bids. The next band with the highest number of bids was the 700MHz frequency, which received over a quarter of all bids. Of the 72.098GHz spectrum that was offered, about 51.236GHz or 71 per cent was sold.

In a statement addressed to the press after the conclusion of the auction, Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated “We understand that the spectrum purchased is good enough to cover all the circles in the country. In 2-3 years, we will have very good coverage for 5G across the country.” The minister also said that 5G services could be launched as soon as October this year.

Reliance Jio was the top bidder
In the auction, Reliance Jio emerged as the top bidder, picking up airwaves across the 700MHz, 800MHz, 1800MHz, 3300MHZ, and 26GHz bands. Reliance Jio put up over Rs 88,078 crore for these bands. In total, Reliance Jio bought about 24.740GHz worth of airwaves.

Reliance Jio was followed by Bharti Airtel, which bought about 19.867GHz worth of airwaves, across the 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3300MHz, and 26GHz bands, shelling out about Rs 43,084 crore.

Next up, was Vodafone Idea, who bid Rs 18,799 for about 6.228GHz of frequencies, across 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2500MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz bands.

The Adani Group also bid on the 26GHz for setting up a private telecom network that they would be using within their own organisation.

What’s next for the bidders?
All four bidders have the option to make the payments in instalments over a period of 20 years. The duration of these entities' right to use these spectrums is also 20 years.

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