5G auction: Reliance Jio is top bidder; Adani is a distant 4th

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio emerged as the largest bidder for the 5G spectrum on Monday, August 1, acquiring close to half of all the airwaves sold in the latest auction for Rs 88,078 crore. 

According to Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Adani Group bought 400 MHz, or less than 1 per cent of all spectrum sold, for Rs 212 crore. While Adani bought spectrum in the 26 GHz band, which is not for public networks, Jio acquired spectrum across several bands, including the coveted 700 MHz band, which can provide 6-10 km of signal range and forms a good base for fifth generation (5G) in all 22 circles in the country. A single towner can cover more area if 700 Mhz is used. 

Also read: India ready to introduce 5G: All you need to know

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel bought a 19,867 MHz airwave across different bands for Rs 43,084 crore. Vodafone Idea Ltd bought spectrum for Rs 18,784 crore. 

In all, Rs 150,173 crore of bids were received, Vaishnaw said. Of the 72,098 MHz of spectrum offered across 10 bands, 51,236 MHz, or 71 per cent, was sold. The government, he said, in the first year will get a Rs 13,365 crore payment for the spectrum. He also said the 5G services could be launched by October. 

Pan-India spectrum footprint

Both Bharti and Jio have likely built a pan-India spectrum footprint for 5G, with Vodafone Idea’s selective participation.

The government had put on offer spectrum in 10 bands but received no bids for airwaves in 600 MHz, 800 MHz and 2300 MHz bands. About two-thirds of the bids were for the 5G bands (3,300 Mhz and 26 GHz), while more than a quarter of the demand came in the 700 Mhz band – a band that had gone unsold in the previous two auctions (2016 and 2021).

In the auction conducted last year – that had lasted two days –  Reliance Jio picked up spectrum worth Rs 57,122.65 crore, Bharti Airtel bid about Rs 18,699 crore, and Vodafone Idea bought spectrum worth Rs 1,993.40 crore.

Also read: 5G launch soon, to be 10 times faster than 4G

This year, a total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radiowaves worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore was put on the block. The auction was 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.

In addition to 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), 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.

With agency inputs