5G to launch by October, Jio top bidder as auction concludes
Bids of ₹1.5 lakh crore were placed. Reliance Jio at the helm with a bid of over ₹88,000 crore.
The thrilling and engulfing week-long 5G spectrum auction ended on Monday with bids of approximately ₹1,50,173 crore being placed, making it India’s biggest ever auction held by the telecom sector. Out of the 72,098 MHz of spectrum that was on offer across 10 bands, 51,236 MHz making up 71 percent of the total was sold.
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed that all formalities including approving, allocating and taking upfront payments will be completed by August 12 and most likely 5G will be launched in the country by October.
The standout bidder was Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio which accumulated almost half of the airwaves sold in the auction for a massive amount of ₹88,078 crore. Further, the group amassed spectrum across several bands, including the much sought-after 700 MHz band that can garner roughly 6-10 km of signal range and forms a solid base for the 5th Generation in all 22 circles of the country.
Besides Jio, Telecom industry veteran Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel also purchased 19,867 MHz airwaves across different bands for ₹43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea Ltd bought spectrum worth ₹18,784 crore.
The Adani group also had its fair say in the auction as it bought 400 MHz amounting to less than 1 percent of all spectrum sold, for a sum of ₹212 crore. It is being told that the Adanis bought spectrum in the 26 GHz band, which is not intended for public networks.
As for the government, it will get a ₹13,365 crore payment for the spectrum in the first year and expects 5G which is touted to be about 10 times faster than 4G to bring about enhanced development in remote data monitoring in various sectors such as mining, warehousing, telemedicine and manufacturing among others.
Earlier it was notified that 5G services will be rolled in 13 Indian cities by the end of the year namely Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune and Gandhinagar.
