5G spectrum auction concludes with a total bid amount of Rs 1.5 lakh crore

New Delhi, Aug 01: India's first-ever auction for the 5G spectrum concluded on Monday with a total bid amount of Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

"The 5G Spectrum Auction has concluded successfully with a total bid amount of Rs 1,50,173 Crores. 72,098 MHz of spectrum was offered for auction, and out of that 51,236 MHz has been sold," Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

About 71% of the total spectrum that was bid out has been sold, the minister said.

"The operator wise quantum -- Adani Data Networks Ltd bought 400 MHz (in 26 GHz), Bharti Airtel Ltd 19,867 MHz (in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz & 26 GHz)," Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated.

Total 40 rounds of bidding were conducted in the past seven days. The total value of the bid stands at Rs 1,50,173 crore.

"Auction has been completed and in the next few days, till August 10, all formalities including approving and allocating the spectrum will be done," he said. "It seems we would be able to launch 5G in the country by October. The ongoing 5G spectrum auction indicates that the country's telecom industry has come a long way in 5G advancements," the minister said.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship Adani Enterprises were in the race to bid for the 5G spectrum, which offers speeds about 10 times faster than 4G, lag-free connectivity and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.

The all-out battle for spectrum in this band in the UP East market, pushed its auction prices to over Rs 160 crore per MHz against the reserve price of Rs 91 crore per MHz, breaching the base price levels of the 2021 auction (Rs 153 crore).

As of May, Reliance Jio had 3.29 crore mobile subscribers in UP East, Bharti Airtel (3.7 crore) and Vodafone Idea (2.02 crore).

The bidding intensity for the 1800 MHz band in Uttar Pradesh East circle had peaked between Wednesday and Friday, then subsided somewhat on Saturday. On Sunday, however, renewed interest was seen and demand flared once again outstripping the spectrum supply, sources said.

All the three private operators are said to be keen on topping up their holdings in this band in UP East, as radiowaves in 900 MHz band are not available.

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier said the 5G auction underscored that industry wants to expand and had entered a growth phase.

The reserve price fixed for spectrum is a "fair number" and the same is visible from the auction outcome, the minister had asserted.

Besides powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), the Fifth Generation or 5G would enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more-immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming, among others.

Up until Friday, about 71 per cent of the total spectrum put on the block had been provisionally sold.

After a flying start on Tuesday that saw players pouring in Rs 1.45 lakh crore on the first day, the numbers have inched up incrementally since Wednesday, with players such as Jio and Airtel locked in intense bidding in Uttar Pradesh East circle for 1800 MHz band. This has stretched the auction duration beyond what was previously anticipated.

In all, 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radiowaves worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore is on the block in the 2022 auction. The auction is being held for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.