5G spectrum auction: Rs 1.45 lakh cr bids made by Reliance Jio, Airtel, others on Day 1

As per the process, it will not be known until the close which company bagged how much of airwaves

The much awaited auction for the 5G spectrum officially started on Tuesday and the government has received total bids to the tune of Rs 1.45 lakh crore on the first day.

All four applicants -- Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and an Gautham Adani group firm "actively" participated in the auction of 5G spectrum, that offers ultra-high speed (about 10 times faster than 4G), lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.

Bids were also received for the 700 MHz band, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters.

Also Read | 5G bidding unlikely to be aggressive, with enough spectrum available for bidders: Analysts

This year's bids were around 1.5 times better than the government’s estimates of Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore and set a new record, up from the previous high of Rs 1.09 crore in the 2015 auction.

Four rounds of bidding were held on the opening day, with mid and high-end bands seeing keen interest.

Also Read | India loses 3 spots in global ranking on mobile download speed

Mid and high bands - 3,300 MHz and 24GHz - attracted the highest interest from the bidders, while the 720 MHz low band too received bids for the first time ever; this band had gone unsold in 2019 and 2021. The government sources said 40 per cent per cent of the 729 MHz band has been sold.

The auction saw a healthy participation from the telecom firms. Auction has again proved that the telecom industry has turned the tide and is now growing into a sunrise industry, the Minister said.

The Minister said the government is planning to allocate the spectrum in record time by August 14 and hopes that the telecom companies roll out 5G service by September.

The Minister also said that the auction will likely be completed Wednesday.

The auction is being held for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.