[speaker id=28425]
The 5G Spectrum auction of India is finally ended, with 1.5 lakh crore sold and Reliance Jio emerging as the top bidder. Monday marked the seventh day of the auction. The provisional figure for the sale proceeds is ₹1,50,173 crore, and the final numbers are being tallied.
What is a 5G Spectrum?
You all might be thinking about the 5G spectrum; let me tell you 5G spectrum is nothing but an advanced and fastest version of 4G. But it can be implemented in low-band, mid-band, or high-band millimeter-wave 24 GHz up to 54 GHz. Low-band 5G uses a similar frequency range to 4G cellphones, 600–900 MHz, giving download speeds slightly higher than 4G: 30–250 megabits per second (Mbit/s). In addition to powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), Fifth Generation or 5G would enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more-immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, lifesaving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming among others.
All About Auction
The 5G spectrum auction was started on July 26, with about 72,000 MHz under nine bands up for sale with a validity period of 20 years. The company’s Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Gautam Adani’s Adani Data Networks bided hard to get the 5G. Around 1.5 lakh sales were completed on the last day of the auction. The mop-up from the 5G spectrum, capable of offering ultra-high speed mobile internet connectivity, is almost double at ₹77,815 crore worth 4G airwaves sold last year and triple of ₹50,968.37 crores garnered from a 3G auction in 2010. Reliance Jio was the top bidder to the airwaves spectrum and is capable of providing a 10-time faster speed and lag-free connectivity than 4G and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea followed it.
Bidding War
This year, there were about 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radio waves worth at least ₹4.3 lakh crore were put on the auction held for spectrum in various Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz), Mid (3300 MHz), and High (26 GHz) frequency auctions Auction was conducted for seven days, and 4o rounds were conducted, in which the market leader Reliance Jio acquired around 24.7 GHz of Spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands, in line with analysts’ predictions, which is worth approximately about 88,078 crore rupees. This is a very high frequency and will provide a 10-time faster speed than a 4G network.
After Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel acquired a 19.8 GHz spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands, worth around 43,084 crore rupees. And with this, Vodafone Idea (Vi) acquired 6,228.4 MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands for about 18,799 crore rupees. And with this, the fourth applicant, Adani Data Networks Limited, a subsidiary of the Adani Group that had applied to passionate in the auction amid a chorus of disruption in the telecom sector, acquired spectrum only in the 26 GHz band and spent Rs 212 crore.
Last Word
The Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier said that the 5G underscored industry wants to expand and enter the growth phase. Vaishnav later noted that the rollout of the 5G spectrum, which can provide 10-time faster speed, is to be launched by October this year.
