Spectrum auction yields Rs 65K cr but no takers for expensive 700, 900 MHz

NEW DELHI: Telecom spectrum auction ended Thursday with bids worth Rs 65,789 crore over the last five days, but this was only about 40% of the total worth of spectrum

NEW DELHI: Telecom spectrum auction ended Thursday with bids worth Rs 65,789 crore over the last five days, but this was only about 40% of the total worth of spectrum that was placed on the block.

HT Image

There were no takers for the expensive 700Mhz and 900 Mhz bands during the course of the five days. The 700MHz band alone was expected to fetch Rs 4 lakh crore for the government.

UK-based Vodafone’s India unit, which recently got a Rs 48,000crore fund infusion from the parent, was the most aggressive, taking home ₹20,000 crore worth of spectrum. Market leader Bharti Airtel bought Rs 14,244 crore worth of spectrum, and Idea Cellular Rs 12,798 crore. Reliance Jio is believed to have spent Rs 13,500 crore, with a company official saying “the government process is not yet complete.”

“Bids worth about ₹65,789 crore were received at the end of 31 rounds for 965 Mhz of spectrum out of total 2,354.55 Mhz put for auction,” sources said.

Around 60% of mobile airwaves in value terms remained unsold in what was billed as the country’s largest spectrum auction where Rs 5.63 lakh crore worth of spectrum was put up for sale from October 1.

Total bids had dipped to about Rs 63,325 crore at the end of the 26th round as compared to previous closing. Activity picked up pace in the later rounds. Each round Thursday was of 45-minute duration, unlike 60 minutes on earlier days.

Bidding activity took place only in few circles with interest continuing to be largely around 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz that can be used by operators to provide 4G services.