Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 26: The much-awaited 5G auction worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore has started on Tuesday. Reliance Jio, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is competing for the 5G spectrum with Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Adani Enterprises company.
If there is a demand for spectrum and bidders are submitting proposals, the bidding will continue until 1800 hours (6 pm) and into the following day. The bidding began at 1000 hrs (10 am).
The real demand for radiowaves and the approach taken by each bidder will determine how many days the auction finally lasts. Although it might last up to two days, this is the general industry consensus.
The auction is held for spectrum in various low (600 megahertz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.
Adani Data Networks Ltd. is the surprise entrant whose bids will be closely watched as competitors try to map out its telecom ambitions. While Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. has paid the highest pre-auction deposit signalling it’s likely to be the most aggressive bidder in the sale that starts Tuesday, it is the surprise entrant whose bids will be closely watched.
The other bidders are the wireless providers Bharti Airtel Ltd., run by billionaire Sunil Mittal, and Vodafone Idea Ltd., a partnership between Vodafone Business Plc and Kumar Mangalam Birla’s group.
As much as 1.1 trillion rupees ($14 billion) might be raised from the sale of the airwaves, according to a June estimate by the local rating agency ICRA Ltd.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which is attempting to control inflation and reduce the fiscal deficit, will benefit financially from the auctions.
For a 20-year period, the South Asian country intends to sell 72 gigahertz of airwaves in a variety of frequency bands, from 600 megahertz to 26 gigahertz.
In an effort to catch up to nations like South Korea and China that have had 5G networks for years, India has also let businesses to pay in 20 evenly spaced instalments with no upfront
