5G Auction: Bid Exceeds Rs 1.45 Lakh Crore, Services In Many Cities By Year End, Says Minister

5G Spectrum Auction: Four auction rounds were completed on Tuesday. Round five of the auction will begin on Wednesday.

5G will power ultra-high data speeds

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The first day of auction of 5G spectrum saw the bid amount exceeding Rs 1.45 lakh crore, said Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. A total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radiowaves worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore were up for bidding. Four auction rounds were completed on Tuesday. Round five of the auction will begin on Wednesday.

"Four rounds of 5G auction have been completed. So far, it is expected that the revenue generated is around Rs 1,45,000 crore. We have to complete this process by August 14 and 5G service in the country will start by September-October," ANI quoted Ashwini Vaishnaw as saying.

The 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands attracted strong bids. The minister said bids were also received for 700 MHz band frequencies.

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.

Ashwini Vaishnaw the government hoped to complete the spectrum allocation by August 15. He said 5G services would be available in many cities by year end.

READ | Jio To Shell Out More In Bidding, Airtel Could Be In Second Spot: Analysts

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship Adani Enterprises participated in the auction on Tuesday.

5G will offer data speeds about 10 times faster than 4G, lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time. It will also allow downloading of high-quality videos or movies in a matter of seconds.

5G will also 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.

According to analysts, it is expected that Jio will lead the spends, followed by Bharti Airtel. 

Reliance Jio has submitted an earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 14,000 crore, the highest amongst the four players in fray for spectrum bidding. The EMD amount of Adani Data Networks stood at Rs 100 crore. Bharti Airtel has put in Rs 5,500 crore as EMD, while for Vodafone Idea the amount stands at Rs 2,200 crore.

(With inputs from PTI)