In the spectrum auction of this year, the highest bidder was Reliance Jio. It offered a total of Rs 880 billion for 24,740 MHz of airwaves in five bands. These airwaves will provide speeds that are around ten X speedier than 4G connectivity.
A whopping Rs 1.5 trillion worth of bids were received for India’s largest-ever telecom spectrum auction process yesterday. Of the total 72,098 MHz of spectrum bandwidth that was allocated across 10 bands, nearly 51,236 MHz which is 71% got sold, according to Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
He declared that a total of bids of Rs 1,502 billion had been received and that the ministry would collect Rs 134 billion during the first fiscal year. He further pointed out that all bands of the spectrum were sold at the reserve (base) price. However, the only exception was the 1800 MHz band, over which Jio and Airtel participated in heated bidding.
The concluding deal for the 5G spectrum is nearly twice as much as the Rs 778 billion prices of 4G airwaves auctioned a year ago. Moreover, it is three times that of the Rs 510 billion obtained from the 3G auction in the year 2010.
“We are confident that we will be able to deliver the best 5G experience in India in terms of coverage, speeds, and latency.”
-Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister, MEIT
Final Outcome of the 5G Spectrum Auction
After Mukesh Ambani’s Jio won close to half of the spectrum frequencies it was sold with a bid of Rs 880 billion. The wealthiest Indian, Gautam Adani’s firm, spent Rs 2.1 billion for 400 MHz, or even less than 1% of all bandwidth sold. This category of the band is not currently available for providing public telephone services. But this account in the bidding was dubbed by a few as a critical event in its contest with Ambani.
Telecom mogul Sunil Bharti Mittal, owner of Bharti Airtel, submitted a winning bid of Rs 430 billion. Whereas Vodafone Idea Ltd. paid Rs 188 billion to purchase its spectrum share. Airtel purchased 19,867.8 MHz in total over five bands, but could not acquire any in the 700 MHz range. Nonetheless, Vodafone Idea purchased a 6228 MHz spectrum.
In contrast to the last two auctions, where there was no interest in the 700 MHz band. However, this time there was a clamor for it across 22 circles. And 40% of the entire amount got sold of the allotted spectrum .
In contrast to the last two auctions, where there was no interest in the 700 MHz band. However, this time there was a clamor for it across 22 circles, and 40% of the entire amount of allotted spectrum got sold off. Vaishnaw has also further added that no one expressed any interest in the newly provided 600 MHz spectrum.
All about 5G Network of Jio
Jio obtained the highly sought-after 700 MHz bandwidth, which could offer 6–10 km of signal ranges from only a single tower. It is touted to provide amazingly high-speed cellular internet access. With lag-free network access, it has the ability for providing multiple linked devices to communicate data concurrently in real-time. Further, it would serve as a suitable foundation for providing the latest generation or 5G services across the nation’s 22 circles or zones. Jio claimed that it has bought 5 spectrums that would allow it to create the world’s most advanced 5G network.
On the other hand, Adani Group purchased a spectrum spanning six states. These six states include Gujarat, Mumbai, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh in the 26 GHz band. It would be appropriate for establishing a private secure network for end-to-end communication channels.
