NE BUSINESS BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, MAR 2
India’s first auction of telecom spectrum in five years ended on Tuesday with Rs 77,814.80 crore of airwaves being bought, mostly by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.
Over 2,250 MHz of spectrum, that carry telecom signals, in seven bands worth nearly Rs 4 lakh crore at the reserve or start price, was offered for bidding in the auction that began on Monday.
Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash said 855.60 MHz of spectrum was bought for Rs 77,814.80 crore in the two-day auction.
Reliance Jio bought Rs 57,122.65 crore worth of spectrum while Vodafone Idea Ltd picked Rs 1,993.40 crore worth of airwaves.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has successfully acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India in the recently concluded spectrum auctions conducted by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.
Circle wise details of spectrum acquired are
| Circle | 800 MHz band
(FDD) |
1800 MHz band
(FDD) |
2300 MHz band
(TDD) |
| Andhra Pradesh | 6.25 | 4.20 | 10.00 |
| Assam | 0.00 | 4.60 | 10.00 |
| Bihar | 5.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| Delhi | 8.75 | 4.60 | 10.00 |
| Gujarat | 5.00 | 4.00 | 10.00 |
| Haryana | 5.00 | 5.00 | 20.00 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 5.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 0.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
| Karnataka | 10.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| Kerala | 10.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| Kolkata | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 5.00 | 3.60 | 10.00 |
| Maharashtra | 10.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| Mumbai | 7.50 | 3.40 | 10.00 |
| North East | 0.00 | 3.60 | 10.00 |
| Odisha | 5.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| Punjab | 6.25 | 4.80 | 20.00 |
| Rajasthan | 5.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
| Tamil Nadu | 10.00 | 3.20 | 10.00 |
| Uttar Pradesh (East) | 5.00 | 3.60 | 20.00 |
| Uttar Pradesh (West) | 5.00 | 5.00 | 20.00 |
| West Bengal | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| Total | 133.75 | 74.60 | 280.00 |
Through this acquisition, RJIL’s total owned spectrum footprint has increased significantly, by 55%, to 1,717 MHz (uplink+ downlink). RJIL has the highest amount of sub-GHz spectrum with 2X10 MHz contiguous spectrum in most circles. It also has at least 2X10 MHz in the 1800 MHz band and 40 MHz in the 2300 MHz band in each of the 22 circles. RJIL has achieved complete spectrum derisking, with an average life of owned spectrum of 15.5 years. RJIL’s spectrum has been acquired in the most cost-efficient manner with an effective cost of Rs 60.8 crore per MHz. With the enhanced spectrum footprint, especially contiguous spectrum, and pan-India infrastructure deployed, RJIL has enhanced network capacity to service its existing users as well as hundreds of millions of more subscribers on its network. The acquired spectrum can be utilised for transition to 5G services at the appropriate time, where Jio has developed its own 5G stack, RIL release said.
Commenting on this, Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, said, “Jio has revolutionised the digital landscape of India with the country becoming the fastest adopter of Digital Life. We want to ensure that we keep on enhancing experiences, not only for our existing customers but also for the next 300 million users that will move to digital services. With our increased spectrum footprint, we are ready to further expand the digital footprint in India as well as get ourselves ready for the imminent 5G rollout.”
The payment to be made for the right to use this technology-agnostic spectrum for 20 years is Rs 57,123 crore.
(amount in Rs. crores)
| Frequency Band | Upfront Payment | Deferred Payment | Total Payment |
| 800 MHz | 8,623 | 25,868 | 34,491 |
| 1800 MHz | 6,231 | 6,231 | 12,461 |
| 2300 MHz | 5,085 | 5,085 | 10,170 |
| Total | 19,939 | 37,184 | 57,123 |
The above amounts are provisional, subject to DOT confirmation.
As per terms of the spectrum auction, the deferred payments have to be made over 18 years (2-year moratorium plus 16 year repayment period), with interest computed at 7.3% per annum.
Bids were received in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands but there were no takers for the airwaves in the premium 700 and 2500 MHz bands.
About one-third of the spectrum being auctioned is in the 700 MHz band, which was completely unsold during the 2016 auctions.
This, analysts said, was mostly because operators are unlikely to diversify into a new spectrum band that would require incremental investment in equipment when other sub-GHz bands are available at lower prices.
