5G spectrum auction Day 1: ₹1.45 lakh crore bids by Jio, Airtel, others
The 5G spectrum auction on Day 1 saw bids of ₹1.45 lakh crore from Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Gautam Adani
On Day 1 of the 5G spectrum auction saw bids of ₹1.45 lakh crore from Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Gautam Adani. The four applicants who participated in the 5G spectrum auction include Ambani's Reliance Jio, Mittal's Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and an Adani group firm.
5G spectrum offers ultra-high speeds (about 10 times faster than 4G), lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that bids were also received for 700 MHz band. On Tuesday, Day 1 of the 5G spectrum auction, the government received bids worth over ₹1.45 lakh crore.
The minister said the first-day bids "exceeded all expectations and surpassed 2015 records."
The process does not allow for it to be revealed, until the close, which company bagged how much of airwaves.
On the opening day of the auction, four rounds of bidding were held, with mid and high-end bands seeing keen interest. The 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands attracted strong bids.
The telecom minister described the participation of four bidders as "strong".
The auction saw healthy participation, he said adding the response shows that the industry has turned from its difficult times. The government, he said, will allocate the spectrum in record time and 5G services are expected to start rolling out by September.
The 5G spectrum has to be allocated by August 14, the Union minister said.
In addition to powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), fifth generation or 5G would enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming among others, PTI reported.
The auction is being held for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.
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