Rs 96,000-crore spectrum auction of 5G airwaves to kick off on Tuesday
5G airwaves worth over Rs 96,000 crore is set to kick-off Tuesday. However, unlike the last sale in 2022, when the government netted a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore, this time the exercise is expected to be a muted affair, said industry executives and analysts.
They say the upcoming airwaves sale is likely to be low-key as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have adequate 5G airwave holdings and, 5G adoption remains low in the absence of any consumer-centric use cases for the masses.
Analysts expect that the three telecom firms could collectively buy around Rs 12,500 crore of spectrum, which is about 13% of the Rs 96,320 crore worth of airwaves on offer.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are likely to only renew their holdings in specific bands or buy little additional airwaves, said analysts.
Reliance Jio is not facing any renewals, but the telco may buy some spectrum in 1800 MHz band to strengthen its holding.
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The expectations of a muted bidding in the auction was underlined by the modest earnest money deposits (EMDs) — in the Rs 300-3,000 crore range — submitted by the telcos, which are the lowest since the 2014 sale and almost 79-86% lower than the submissions in the previous 5G auction of 2022.
Jio has submitted Rs 3,000 crore EMD for the upcoming sale, which is almost three times that of Bharti Airtel and 10 times that of Vodafone Idea. Some say the market leader may try to grab airwaves, especially in those circles where
