The week-long fifth generation (5G) spectrum auction concluded on Monday. According to the central government, the spectrum was auctioned for Rs 1,50,173 crore. Jio has bagged the spectrum worth Rs 88,078 crore in the auction.
The 5G spectrum auction in the country started on July 26. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and Adani participated in the auction. The 7th day of the wave auction was held on Monday. A total of 40 rounds of auctions were completed on Monday afternoon.
Central government sources said the 5G spectrum was auctioned to companies for Rs 1,50,173 crore. Among them, Reliance Jio, owned by businessman Mukesh Ambani, received spectrum worth Rs 88,078 crore. Jio has auctioned various spectrums including 700 MHz spectrum which is considered important for 5G technology.
Bharti Airtel auctioned spectrum worth Rs 43,084 crore. Vodafone-Idea bought spectrum for Rs 18,784 crore. Adani bought 26 giga-hots of spectrum for Rs 212 crore. Note that 26 gigabytes of spectrum cannot be used for public service. Adani bought less than 1 percent of the total spectrum auctioned.
71 percent spectrum auction:
Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that a total of 72,098 MegaHots of spectrum was listed in the auction, of which 71 percent of the spectrum (51,236 MegaHots) was auctioned by the companies. He also informed that Rs 13,365 crore will be available to the central government as revenue from the telecom companies in the first year for providing 5G spectrum.
The Minister informed that 5G spectrum will be used in major cities of the country from October and said that 5G will be used gradually throughout the country within the next one year.
Investment will increase:
Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told reporters, “In the next 2 years, investments of Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 lakh crore will be available in the telecommunication sector. The central government is continuously taking steps to attract more investments,” he said.
Fierce Competition:
There are 22 telecom units across the country. In it, it is said that there was a fierce competition between the companies in capturing the Eastern Division of Uttar Pradesh which includes the cities of Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Allahabad.
In the auction for the segment, the initial cost of 1,800 megawatts of spectrum was fixed at Rs 91 crore per megawatt. However, reports suggest that companies have asked for bids of up to Rs.160 crore. There was competition between Airtel and Jio to capture Uttar Pradesh East segment.
High Speed Internet:
5G will work 10 times faster than 4G and with less interference. Experts have said that due to this, data can be shared at high speed through billions of internet devices.
5G spectrum auction details
The company bids for spectrum
Reliance Jio 24,740 Mega Hots Rs.88,078 Crore
Bharti Airtel 19,867 Mega Hots Rs.43,084 Crore
Vodafone-Idea 2,668 Mega Hots Rs.18,784 crore
Adani company 400 mega hots Rs.212 crores