Telecom: Centre earns over 1.5 lakh crore in spectrum auction for 5-G
New Delhi: The Centre earned over Rs.1.5 trillion (Rs. 1.50 lakh crore) when the auction for the telecommunication spectrum bands to launch the 5-G services concluded on Monday afternoon.
The media reported the process continued for seven days of bidding and 40 rounds, adding Rs 43 crore to its kitty on the last day.
The amount earned is far higher than the government expected and the most compared to the seven auctions since 2010, with Rs 113 932 crores in 2015 being the previous best.
The spectrum range on sale was also a record high, with the government seeking to sell 72 GHz at a base price of Rs 4.3 trillion.
The media reported that Reliance Jio bid the most amount at over Rs 80,000 crore, followed by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and the Adani Group, the last being a fresh player.
The auction went on longer than planned, belying expectation among telecommunication companies that most of the spectrum would be sold at the base price and would be over in two days.
No one expected a bitter battle between the three companies for the 10.8 MHz spectrum in the 1800 band in the eastern Uttar Pradesh circle. The battle resulted in prices soaring over the base price.
Official sources said they estimated earnings between Rs 70,000 crore and Rs 110,000 crore. However, Reliance reportedly bought 10 MHz of spectrum in the 700 bands. The company would have forked out Rs 39,270 crore for the band, and the overall numbers hit a much higher mark.
The companies had avoided buying the 700 Mhz spectrum in the earlier two auctions because they believed it was very expensive. The spectrum is increasingly becoming popular globally as the key spectrum required for 5-G coverage, especially indoors and for more efficiency.
(VP)
