All three private telecom operators - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - will vie for a share of the 5G spectrum valued at Rs 96,317.65 crore in the upcoming auction, set to commence on 6 June.
According to officials who spoke to a leading media house, the telecom department has received applications from the three private telcos by the application deadline. Notably, no new company has applied this time around. In the previous auction held in 2022, a unit of the Adani group surprised everyone by participating.
Originally scheduled to begin on 20 May, the auction date was extended due to the general elections.
Airwaves across various bands including 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz will be up for sale.
Industry experts anticipate a subdued response to the upcoming spectrum sale as India's leading telcos already possess sufficient 5G airwaves for their current requirements. The auction is expected to witness selective purchases by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi), primarily to renew their airwaves in certain circles.
Airtel, led by Sunil Mittal, needs to renew its airwaves in J&K, Odisha, Bihar, UP (East), West Bengal and Assam. Vodafone Idea needs to renew its spectrum in the West Bengal and UP West circles.
According to recent estimates by Jefferies, Airtel and Vi need to renew airwaves worth around Rs 4,200 crore and Rs 1,950 crore, respectively, while Reliance Jio, the market leader, does not have any spectrum renewals due this year.
In the previous spectrum sale in July 2022, which marked India's first 5G auction, the government garnered over Rs 1.5 lakh crore. It offered more than 72 GHz of airwaves across 10 5G bands for a 20-year period, valued at Rs 4.3 lakh crore at reserve prices.
The spectrum will be allocated for 20 years, with successful bidders allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual installments.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has provided an option to surrender the spectrum acquired through the upcoming auction after a minimum period of 10 years.
Spectrum bidders are not required to submit any financial bank guarantees (FBG) and performance bank guarantees (PBG).
Airwaves acquired in the auction will not attract any spectrum usage charges (SUC) in line with the telecom reforms initiated in September 2021.
DoT will publish ownership details of the applicants on 10 May.
The deadline for withdrawal of applications is 17 May, with the final list of bidders scheduled to be declared on 20 May.
Successful bidders are required to deposit the amount to DoT within 10 calendar days from the issuance of the demand notice. The department, in turn, will issue a frequency assignment letter specifying the frequencies to the successful bidder within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of payment.
