Reliance Emerges As Top Buyer In Government's Spectrum Auction With Bids Of Over Rs 57,000 Crore

Government's Spectrum Auction: Bidding took place for spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, and 2300 MHz bands.

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) with bids of Rs 57,123 crore saved the spectrum auction, helping the government to raise Rs 77,815 crore with Sunil Bharti Mittal led Bharti Airtel bidding for spectrum worth Rs 18,699 crore. Vodafone Idea bid for airwaves worth Rs 1993 crore only.

Reliance bagged 488.35 Mhz of airwaves, Bharti Airtel got 355.35 Mhz of airwaves while Vodafone Idea got just 11.8 Mhz of airwaves.

"The value of the spectrum for which there are winning bids is Rs 77,814.80 crore. Hence, incremental bids for Rs 668.20 crore were made today", said Shri Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the concluding day of Spectrum Auction.

"Reliance has successfully acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India in the recently concluded spectrum auctions conducted by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India," said RJIL in a statement adding that the payment to be made for the right to use this technology-agnostic spectrum for a period of 20 years is Rs 57,123 crores.

Commenting on the auctions, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, said: "Jio has revolutionised the digital landscape of India with the country becoming the fastest adopter of Digital Life. We want to ensure that we keep on enhancing experiences, not only for our existing customers but also for the next 300 million users that will move to digital services. With our increased spectrum footprint, we are ready to further expand the digital footprint in India as well as get ourselves ready for the imminent 5G rollout."

Post-auction, Press Information Bureau (PIB) stated that bidding took place for spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, and 2300 MHz bands.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel acquired a 355.45 MHz spectrum across Sub GHz, mid-band, and 2300 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 18,699 crores.

"This gives Airtel the most formidable spectrum holdings in the country. Airtel has now secured pan India footprint of Sub GHz spectrum that will help improve its deep indoor and in building coverage in every urban town. In addition, this precious spectrum will also help improve its coverage in villages by offering the superior Airtel experience to an additional 90 million customers in India," said Bharti Airtel.

Vodafone Idea entered this auction holding the largest quantum of the spectrum with a very small fraction, which was administratively allocated and used for GSM services, coming up for renewal. We have used this opportunity to optimize spectrum holding post-merger to create further efficiencies in few circles, said Vodafone Idea in a statement.