Highlight
- 5G spectrum: 7 new rounds of bidding ‘dial in’ on 6th day of auction, an increase of ₹163 crore
- This has driven the cumulative spectrum sales to over Rs 1.50 lakh crore
- Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said the response on the first day exceeded all expectations
5G Spectrum Auction Day 6: The auction of 5G spectrum capable of offering ultra-high-speed internet has received bids worth Rs 1,50,130 crore till Sunday, amid spurt in demand from radiowaves in the UP East circle, reaching the seventh day on Monday.
Seven fresh rounds of bidding, held on Sunday, the sixth day of the auction, raised Rs 163 crore, taking the cumulative spectrum sales to over Rs 1.50 lakh crore.
According to the data released by the Department of Telecommunications, provisional bids worth Rs 1,50,130 crore have been received for the auction in the first six days.
Sources said that after a relative easing in demand on Saturday, the UP East circle – which includes Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur – once again saw bidding activity for 1800 MHz, mainly 4G. is the band used by telcos for services. ,
UP East – which has over 100 million mobile subscribers – accounted for all the incremental spectrum sales on Sunday, amid an uphill battle between players like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel for radio waves.
As of May, Reliance Jio had 3.29 mobile subscribers in UP East, Bharti Airtel (37 million) and Vodafone Idea (2.02 million).
The intensity of bidding for the 1800 MHz band in Uttar Pradesh Eastern Circle peaked between Wednesday and Friday, then dipped slightly on Saturday. Sources said that on Sunday, however, there was a renewed interest and the supply of spectrum once again boosted the demand.
The three private operators are said to be keen to increase their stake in this band in Uttar Pradesh East, as radio waves are not available in the 900 MHz band.
All eyes will be on this circle when it resumes with the 38th round on Monday and the timeline of the auction will depend on how the bidding progresses throughout the day.
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had earlier said that the 5G auction underscores that the industry is looking to expand and has entered a growth phase.
“The results of the auction are very good, with the industry committing around Rs 1,49,966 crore to buy spectrum,” Vaishnav had said at a briefing on Saturday.
The minister stressed that the reserve price fixed for spectrum is a “reasonable number” and is visible from the auction result.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship Adani Enterprises are in the race to bid for 5G spectrum, which offers speeds nearly 10 times faster than 4G. does. and could enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.
In addition to powering an ultra-low latency connection that allows full-length high-quality video or movie downloads to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in congested areas), the fifth generation or 5G e- Healthcare solutions. Connected vehicles, more immersive Augmented Reality and Metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming, and more.
As of Friday, about 71 per cent of the total spectrum held on the block had been temporarily sold.
After a flying start on Tuesday, in which players poured in Rs 1.45 lakh crore on the first day, the numbers have increased since Wednesday, with players like Jio and Airtel making intense bids in the Uttar Pradesh Eastern circle for the 1800 MHz band.
Overall, 72 gigahertz (gigahertz) radiowaves, worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore, are on the block in the 2022 auction. The auction is being conducted 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. Is.