- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
ON Tuesday (26), India remained witness to its biggest-ever spectrum auction for 72 GHz (gigahertz) of 5G airwaves worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore (£45 billion). Telecom companies that are associated with some of the biggest names of India Inc. were involved in the bid, including Reliance Jio of Mukesh Ambani, Bharti Airtel of Sunil Mittal and Adani Enterprises of Gautam Adani.
The bidding took off at 10 am local time and was set to continue till 6 pm local time. The event would carry over into the next day if there is a demand for spectrum and bidders are putting in bids.
According to one report in NDTV, the number of days the auction eventually stretches to will be determined by the actual demand for radio-waves and the strategy the individual bidders take.
The auction was held for spectrum in various low (600 megahertz or MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.
The department of telecom under India’s ministry of communications expects Rs 70,000 crore (£7.3 billion) to Rs 1,00,000 crore (£10.4 billion) from the 5G auctions that would see new-age offerings and business models and ultra-sound speeds, about 10 times quicker than 4G.
Jio has made an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of Rs 14,000 crore (£1.46 billion) while its rival Adani group made a modest deposit of Rs 100 crore (10.4 million).
The EMD of all four applicants seeking 5G radio-waves in the current auction adds up to Rs 21,800 crore (£2.2 billion), an amount substantially higher than Rs 13,475 crore (£1.40 billion) deposited in the auction held last year when three players were competing.
While Airtel had put in Rs 5,500 crore (£575 million) as EMD, for another competitor Voda Idea, the amount stands at ₹ 2,200 crore (£230 million).
