The 5G auction was completed successfully, Here is the journey from 2G to 5G auction

By: Deepak Maggu

Jio bought the highest spectrum with Rs. 88,078 crore, while Airtel stood second with Rs. 43,084 crore and Vodafone Idea Limited came third with Rs. 18,799 crore. The government of India had put 72,098 MHz of spectrum to auction, of which 51,236 MHz (71% of the total) has been sold with a bid amounting to Rs. 1,50,173 crore.

After a week-long haul, the 5G spectrum auction is finally over. With a record sale of Rs. 1,50,173 crore, it has become the biggest auction in India's telecom history till date. At the auction, Jio bought the highest spectrum with Rs. 88,078 crore, while Airtel stood second with Rs. 43,084 crore and Vodafone Idea Limited came third with Rs. 18,799 crore. The government of India had put 72,098 MHz of spectrum to auction, of which 51,236 MHz (71% of the total) has been sold with a bid amounting to Rs. 1,50,173 crore. The auction commenced on Tuesday 26th July and ended on Monday 1st August. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Adani Data Network are the four leading companies that participated.

Adani Data Networks Ltd has obtained a 400 MHz spectrum in the mm-wave band (26 GHz). Bharti Airtel Ltd has obtained 19,867.8 MHz in the 900, 1800, 2100, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has obtained 24,740 MHz spectrum in 700, 800, 1800, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz. Vodafone Idea Ltd has obtained 6,228 MHz spectrum in 1800, 2100, 2500, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz.

The total bid amount of Rs. 1,50,173 crore comprises the bids Rs. 212 crore by Adani Data Networks, Rs. 43,048 crore by Bharti Airtel Ltd, Rs. 88,078 crore by Reliance Jio Infocomm. and Rs. 18,799 crore by Vodafone idea Ltd. The annual installment to be paid by all the participants is Rs. 13,365 crore.

However, the companies did not show much enthusiasm in the previous auctions. If we look at the figures, in 2012, 2013 and 2014, spectrum was purchased at Rs 9,400, Rs 6,400, and Rs 61,200 crores, respectively, and it was used to provide 2G service. But in the years 2015 and 2016, a record Rs. 1,09,874 crore and Rs. 65,789 crore of spectrum were purchased because this time the spectrum was to be used for providing 2G as well as 3G and 4G services.

In the period between 2017-2020, government tried to auction 5G Spectrum several times but no there was no response and any kind of enthusiasm from the buyers end. In the 2021 auction, the government sold Rs. 77,814 crores, but the spectrum of 700 Mhz and 600 Mhz remained unsold.

From time to time, many companies have tried their luck in the telecom sector of India. But in today's time, only three major players tend to dominate the market. Especially after the place that Jio took with its 4G services in the market after 2016, the rest of the companies were unable to compete. This had the effect that Idea and Vodafone had to merge in 2018. Telenor and Tata Docomo were acquired by Airtel in 2018 and 2019 respectively. India's two major government companies, MTNL and BSNL also merged in the year 2020 to stay in the market.