India’s biggest ever telecom spectrum auction gets record 1.5 lakh crore bid, with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio accounting for almost half of the broadcasts sold with a 88,078 crore bid.
India’s biggest ever telecom spectrum auction gets record 1.5 lakh crore bid, with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio accounting for almost half of the broadcasts sold with a 88,078 crore bid.
The group of Gautam Adani, the wealthiest Indian, whose entry in the auction is seen by some as another flashpoint in the competition with Ambani, has paid 212 crore for 400 MHz, or less than one percent of all spectrum sold, in a band not used to provide public telephone service.
Bharti Airtel of telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal has successfully bid 43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea Ltd buys spectrum for 18,799 crore.
Telecommunications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the 72,098 MHz band was offered on 10 bands, 51,236 MHz, or 71%, had been sold.
In general, the bid is worth He said an additional 1,50.173 crore was obtained 13,365 crore.
He noted that without the 1800 MHz band that Jio and Airtel entered in a fierce bid for, spectrum in all bands would be sold at reserve (basic) prices.
An improvement from the 5G spectrum, capable of providing an ultra-high speed mobile Internet connection that is almost double 77,815 crore worth of 4G broadcast was sold last year and tripled 50,968.37 crore obtained from a 3G auction in 2010.
Reliance Jio was the highest bidder, giving a cumulative bid of 88,078 crore for 24,740 MHz transmission across five bands capable of providing speeds approximately 10 times faster than 4G, a latency-free connection, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data within real time.
It gets the coveted 700 MHz spectrum that can provide a signal range of 6-10 km with one tower and forms a good base to deliver fifth generation (5G) services, at all 22 circle or region in the country.
The Adani group purchased spectrum in the 26 GHz band, suitable for setting up private networks for end-to-end communications, in six states – Gujarat, Mumbai, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
Airtel purchased a total of 19,867.8 MHz of spectrum across 5 bands but none at 700 MHz. Vodafone Idea has received 6228 MHz of airwaves.
Vaishnaw said the 600 MHz band, which was offered for the first time, did not receive any interest.
“Spectrum is bought well enough to cover all areas in the country. In the next 2-3 years we will have good 5G coverage,” he noted.
He said the 26 GHz application would be for non-public networks, providing fixed wireless access. “It’s a good alternative to fiber for last-mile connectivity.”
The minister said the allocation will be made on August 10, and 5G services are expected to be rolled out from October.
“With better spectrum availability, call quality will improve,” he said.
The government has offered spectrum in 10 bands but has not received a bid for airwaves at 600 MHz.
About two-thirds of the orders were for the 5G band (3300Mhz and 26Ghz), while more than a quarter of the demand was in the 700Mhz band – the band that went unsold in the previous two auctions (2016 and 2021). The 1800 MHz and 900 MHz bands (where Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have their mark) are in demand.
Unlike the previous two auctions that showed no interest in the 700 MHz band, this time there was demand across 22 circles with 40% of the total available spectrum acquired.
In the auction conducted last year – which lasted two days – Reliance Jio obtained a spectrum of value 57,122.65 crore, Bharti Airtel bid around 18,699 crore and Vodafone Idea bought worth spectrum 1,993.40 crore.
This year, a total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) radio waves is worth at least 4.3 lakh crore has been included in the block. Auctions are held for spectrum in the low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) bands. .
In addition to powering ultra-low-latency connections, allowing full-length high-quality video or movies to be downloaded to mobile devices in seconds (even in crowded areas), Fifth generation or 5G will enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, richer augmented and hyper-diverse experiences, life-saving use cases and games. advanced mobile cloud play, etc.
The auction has obtained a worthwhile bid 1.45 lakh crore on the first day on July 26, with subsequent days seeing only a slight increase in demand in some circles.
Commenting, Jio, India’s largest telecommunications company, said it has spectrum in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands, which will allow it to “build the network.” The world’s most advanced 5G”.
“Launched just six years ago, Jio has set multiple world records in the shortest time to deploy the largest 4G network. Jio’s 4G network provides the highest quality digital services at affordable prices. most affordable for over 400 million loyal and satisfied customers. Jio will now raise the standard even further with its 5G services,” it said.
Akash M Ambani, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm said the speed, scale and social impact of Jio’s 4G rollout is unprecedented anywhere in the world. “Now, with greater ambition and stronger determination, Jio is set to lead India’s march into the 5G era.”
Airtel says it has obtained 19,867.8 MHz spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands for 43,084 cr. “This massive acquisition of spectrum tied to an industry-best existing spectrum pool will mean the company doesn’t need to spend any physical money on spectrum for years to come.”
The company says it now has the widest mobile broadband area in the country, making it well-positioned to usher in the 5G revolution in India.
Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel said, “This acquisition of spectrum at the latest auction is part of a deliberate strategy to purchase the best spectrum assets at a relative cost. significantly lower than our competitors”.
“We are confident that we will be able to deliver the best 5G experience in India in terms of coverage, speed and latency,” he added.
In a statement, Vodafone Idea said it has entered a spectrum auction to strengthen its 4G footprint across India and embark on its 5G rollout journey.
“We have successfully obtained mid-band 5G spectrum (3300 MHz band) in 17 priority rounds and mmWave 5G spectrum (26 GHz band) in 16 rounds, which will allow us to deliver a high superior 5G experience for customers as well as strengthen the enterprise offering and provide new opportunities for business growth in the emerging 5G era.”
The acquisition of more 4G spectrum in the 3 circles of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab will further improve the customer experience. “We believe that acquiring spectrum will allow us to strengthen our position in key markets, and it aligns well with our long-term strategic intent. With this, we are now now have a solid spectrum of spectrum across all bands in all of our priority rings.”
