Jio puts in the highest EMD for the upcoming 5G auction sale. While other applicants stay far off in the competition. Adani has put in ₹100 crores and Jio ₹14,000 crores.
The 5G Spectrum sale is scheduled for July 26, as a part of the application process, the participants have to put in Earnest Money Deposits (EMDs). In doing this the company gets eligibility points which determine the quantum of airwaves in select or all available bands in specific or all circles. Currently, for the 5G spectrum sale, 4 companies are competing; Jio, Airtel formally known as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Adani Data Networks.
According to the data published by the Department of Technology (DoT), Reliance Jio Infocomm or Jio has filed the EMD amount at ₹14,000 crores. Bharti Airtel has put in ₹5,000 crores, Vodafone Idea ₹2,200 crores while Adani Data Networks filled for ₹100 crores.
Based on their EMD the companies have their eligibility points; Jio is the highest with 1,59,830 points, followed by Airtel at 66,330 points. Third, on the list is Vodafone with 29,370 points and lastly Adani at 1650 points. The points form a basis for the amount the company can bid in the auction.
According to the current eligibility points, Jio can bid up to ₹1.27 lakh crore. While Airtel can raise its bid maximum to ₹48,00 crore, Vodafone Idea has a limit on its bid of ₹20,000 crores and Adani can raise a maximum of ₹700 crores. The higher the amount the more the chances are for getting more and better airwaves and bands. With the current amount put in by Adani, the company is limited to getting a 26 GHz band and a few circles. This reduces their chances in the competition while it gives their competitors chances of better expansion.
With the entry of Adani into the telecom industry, their bid was expected to be a threat to the competitors. This being their first bid, their decisions were unexpected and their strategies were not predictable. The reason Jio has put in this high amount can be because of the tough competition expected. Adani had mentioned that they want to captivate the networks for their establishment and has no plans to enter customer mobility.
This is the current situation between the companies, the auction is expected to be aggressive as all the companies have put in their stake and stand in the competition. The auction scheduled on July 26 will decide the future of the telecom sector.
