5G spectrum auction put off again till June 25
5G spectrum auction — the telecom sector’s most watched event — has been put off again, this time till June 25.
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On Tuesday, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) amended the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA), which outlines the auction rules, deferring the sale by another 19 days even. This, even as the country awaits the formation of the next government, post declaration of general elections results on Tuesday.
This is the second time the spectrum sale has been pushed back. It was originally scheduled on May 20, and was initially deferred to June 6, in the wake of the general elections.
Now, mock auctions will be conducted on June 13 and 14, the DoT said in its official notification amending the auction rules.
This time round, 5G airwaves in eight bands — the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands — worth over Rs 96,000 crore at base prices, will be on sale.
Analysts expect the upcoming airwaves sale to be a low key affair with bidding likely to remain muted as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have adequate 5G airwave holdings and since 5G penetration remains low in absence of any consumer-centric use cases for the masses.
Airtel and Vi are likely to focus on specific bands in markets where they face spectrum renewals while some analysts say Jio could virtually sit this one out as it has no
