5G Auction in India: Spectrum Allocation to Be Done by Aug 15

5G spectrum auction finally began in India yesterday and after 4 rounds of bidding on Day 1, we have a few updates to share. It is revealed that the spectrum allocation is said to be completed by August 15. Here are more details to know.

5G Spectrum Auction Day 1 Updates

The government has received around Rs 1.45 lakh crore as the bidding amount, which exceeded the expectation. To recall, the highest bidding amount has been Rs 1.09 lakh crore back in 2015. The bidding participants include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), and for the first time, the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group.

5G services, which will be faster than 4G, are expected to start rolling out in many cities by the end of this year, which is an expectation we have been hearing for a while now.

India’s telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw suggests that the bids were also received for the 700MHz band frequencies, which came in as a surprise. The bids were mostly concentrated in the mid (3.3-3.67 GHz) and high-band (26 GHz) 5G band frequencies. The bids were at the base price.

Vaishnaw, in a statement, said, “We had four rounds today and have seen good participation from all bidders. We have crossed the previous revenue record (from auctions) at around Rs 1.45 lakh crore so far (from this year’s auction).“

This time, the Indian Government has offered 72GHz of the 5G airwaves for a period of 20 years across 5G bands ranging from 600MHz to 26GHz. Jio is expected to spend over Rs 70,000 crore, Airtel could spend between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000 crore, Vi may spend between Rs 17,000 and Rs 20,000 crore, and Adani Group’s spending might fall between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000 crore.

The spectrum is slated to reach its end today, which will be Day 2 of the process. More on this will be out soon. So, stay tuned to this space for further information.