5G spectrum auction, Day 6: Govt receives bids worth Rs 1,50,130 crore after 37 rounds

The Centre received bids worth Rs 1,50,130 crore after a total of 37 rounds of bidding in the ongoing 5G Spectrum auction. The auction kicked off on July 26. July 31 saw seven rounds of bidding. At the end of five days, the government had received bids worth Rs 1,49,966 from Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. The total bids received on July 30 were to the tune of Rs 111-112 crore.

After a phenomenal start on Tuesday, July 26 when bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore were received in a single day, the response has been tepid in the following days. However, after conducting seven fresh rounds of auction on July 30, Saturday, the auction was extended to July 31, Sunday-- a departure from the past when the auctions would take place only from Monday to Saturday. 

Until July 29, Friday, 71% of the total spectrum put on the block has been sold. 

Intense competition in Uttar Pradesh East circle

According to the industry sources, the pitched battle for the 1800 MHz spectrum in Uttar Pradesh East circle seems to be peaking as of now, pointing towards the auction reaching its final stages. Notably, the demand for the Uttar Pradesh East circle after surpassing the supply for the first three days receded below the supply level on July 30.

Earlier, the demand was for 75 blocks against the supply of 54 blocks. However, on July 30, the demand fell to 50 blocks, four less than the available supply in the UP East circle. 

"The 5G auction shows that the industry wants to expand. It has come out of problems and is getting into a growth phase. The auction results are very good, close to Rs 1,49,966 crore has been committed by the industry for buying the spectrum," Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a briefing in Mumbai, after a telecom investors' roundtable on Saturday.

5G auctions: In a nutshell

The 5th generation mobile network (5G) offers ultra-high speeds of connectivity and is distinct in the sense that it can connect virtually everything together including machines, objects and devices because of its low latency compared to the previous iteration - 4G. 

The following companies have participated in the spectrum auction: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and the new entrant to the auction, Gautam Adani’s Adani Enterprises. They will all compete for the 5G auction, which offers speeds 10 times faster than 4G, enabling ultra-high speeds, having the capacity of connecting billions of devices and sharing data in real-time. 

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