Jio, Airtel and Vi deposit ₹4,350 crore for spectrum auction

livemint.com:

₹4,350 crore as earnest money deposit, making them eligible for the spectrum auctions starting 6 June. India’s largest telco, Reliance Jio, deposited ₹3,000 crore, while Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea deposited ₹1,050 crore and ₹300 crore, respectively, according to data from the department of telecommunications (DoT) released on Thursday. The government expects a modest auction for the frequencies offered across multiple bands—800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz—valued at ₹96,317.65 crore.

The auction is expected to be limited in scale compared to the 2022 bids, which generated a record ₹1.5 trillion from the sale of 72,097.85 MHz, including 5G airwaves for the first time. Mint had reported earlier this year that the government is expecting to mop up about ₹10,000 crore from spectrum sale. Brokerages have predicted Reliance Jio to spend about ₹3,700 crore, as it may look to increase its spectrum holding in certain circles in the 800MHz band, having tanked up on 5G spectrum across the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz bands in the 2022 5G auctions.

Jefferies said in a note in March that Bharti Airtel could spend a minimum of ₹3,800 crore as it will have to renew 42MHz of spectrum in 1800MHz and 900MHz bands in six circles. It may also bid in certain circles to increase its holding in 800MHz/1800MHz bands to 10-15MHz and in 2300MHz band to 40MHz. This could lead to a maximum spend of ₹123 billion or ₹12,300 crore.