Bids At 5G Spectrum Auction Reach Rs 1.49 Lakh Crore: Here¡¯s What All Has Happened So Far

The government has raised a mammoth amount of Rs 1.49 lakh crore so far from the auction of 5G spectrum which is continuing deep into the second day, with telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw saying that the sale could spill into day three, and wrap up tomorrow, i.e. on Thursday. He also mentioned that the Union Cabinet has approved a Rs 1.64 lakh crore revival package for BSNL.

At the time of writing this report, the ninth round of bidding was taking place. Incremental bids in some circles have kept the auction rolling, said industry executives familiar with the matter, as per ET.

India¡¯s 5G auction kicked off yesterday and involves four local companies in the race to bid for the country¡¯s first 5G spectrum ahead of a planned rollout in 2023. Four rounds of the auction were completed on Day 1, which saw bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore.

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Bidders will include all the three major mobile operators in India: Reliance Jio, the market leader, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The entry of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani as the fourth contender has come out as a surprise move.

For the uninitiated, a total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) of 5G airwaves worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore are up for auction, for which winning bids will retain the rights for 20 years.

5G refers to the fifth generation of high-speed mobile internet which promises super-fast download speeds that can support technologies like driverless cars and virtual reality, as per ET.

In total, the four bidders had earlier put up $2.7 billion (218 billion Indian rupees) in earnest money, which is the mandatory sum required to confirm a contract. The amount of earnest money deposited provides an indication of the amount of spectrum a company wishes to buy, the report mentioned.

The auction is expected to be seeing aggressive bidding by Reliance Industries¡¯ Jio, which has reportedly deposited the largest amount of earnest money amongst contenders, i.e Rs 140 billion.

Other major mobile operators include Bharti Airtel which put 55 billion rupees and Vodafone Idea which deposited 22 billion rupees of earnest money.

Whereas the Adani Group conglomerate, which operates mainly in infrastructure, put in only Rs 1 billion as earnest money, which entitles it to bid for only a limited amount of spectrum.

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Adani Group Denies Entry Into Mobile Space

However, the company moved to douse the speculation. The Adani Group denied plans to enter the mobile phone space, as per a CNBC report.

¡°We are participating in the 5G spectrum auction to provide private network solutions along with enhanced cyber security in the airport, ports & logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations,¡± the group said in a statement.

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