 "telecom spectrum")
The latest auction for 5G airwaves has seen low bidding owing to operators. In comparison, the last auction in 2022 had seen high bidding intensity, as telcos made a dash for the newly opened 5G airwaves. Representative Picture
The auction for 5G spectrum ended on Wednesday afternoon, a day after it started, with the government receiving a modest Rs 11,300 crore of bids in seven rounds, against airwaves worth Rs 96,317 crore that were up for sale this time.
The amount of bid received was in line with analyst estimates.
In 2022, the government had mopped up a whopping Rs 1.5 trillion from spectrum auctions. One of the reasons was that the telecom operators had made a dash for the newly-opened 5G airwaves.
This time, Bharti Airtel has emerged as the largest overall bidder due to its requirement for spectrum renewal in the 900 megahertz (MHz) band across multiple telecom circles, officials at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) hinted.
The government was auctioning 10,523.15 MHz of spectrum, covering a large chunk of voice and data spectrum, at a reserve price of Rs 96,317.65 crore.
The 1800 MHz band was in high demand. It was one of the few bands where Jio made a push to acquire spectrum.
According to an analyst report by Morgan Stanley released on Wednesday, Vi and Airtel control 31 per cent and 29 per cent of the 1800 MHz spectrum market share.
The three private sector telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, have collectively put up Rs 4,350 crore as earnest money deposit (EMD) for the bidding, the pre-qualified bidder details released by DoT has shown. This is five times smaller than the last 5G spectrum auctions in 2022, data shows.
Companies get points based on the EMD amount they have deposited, which enables them to bid for the number of circles and quantity of spectrum they want. Higher points signify higher capability to place bids. Telecom operators can bid for spectrum worth up to 12 times their EMD.
First Published: Jun 26 2024 | 3:35 PM IST
