The latest spectrum auction to sell airwaves to mobile companies ended in two days. In this Bharti Airtel Rs. 11,341 crore bought about 60% of the spectrum sold. About a quarter of the 533 MHz or 141 MHz spectrum could be sold after seven rounds of bidding, with Bharti Airtel acquiring 97 MHz in three bands. This is followed by Vodafone (30 MHz) and Reliance Jio (14.4 MHz).
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Bids have been received for only 12 percent of the spectrum
The auction of radio waves that carry voice and data signals for mobile phones ended in two days on Wednesday. This amount for the spectrum proposed by the government is Rs. 96,238 crore was less than 12 percent of the estimated minimum price.
A total of 10 GHz of spectrum between 800 MHz to 26 GHz was offered in the auction, sources close to the matter said. A total of Rs. 11,340 crore bid was received. Five rounds of bids were placed on June 25, the first day of the auction. Wednesday did not see much activity, prompting officials to announce the end of the auction at around 11:30.
Record sale of spectrum in last auction
The last auction was held in 2022 which lasted for seven days. 5G telecom spectrum worth Rs. A record sale of over 1.5 lakh crore was made, with Jio emerging as the top bidder. It captured nearly half of all radio airwaves (worth Rs 88,078 crore). At that time, telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel paid Rs. 43,084 crore made a successful bid, while Vodafone-Idea bid Rs. 18,799 crore was purchased spectrum.
Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters, “Spectrum auction 2024 was part of a continuous allocation process, which is transparent, robust and progressive. Telecom service companies took spectrum not only for uninterrupted service but also for expansion of their services. But, Its number is limited because most of the required spectrum was already auctioned last year.”