The Department of Telecom (DoT) has announced that it will hold spectrum auctions for IMT/5G telecom services starting from May 20, 2024. The auction will include all the available spectrum in various bands, ranging from 600 MHz to 26 GHz. The spectrum allotted through this auction can be used for 5G or any other technology within the scope of Access Service License.
The auction will be conducted through a Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) e-auction process, where bidders will compete for spectrum blocks in different bands and circles. The total quantum of spectrum put to auction is 72097.85 MHz, which is worth nearly Rs 4 lakh crore at the reserve price. The spectrum will be assigned for a period of 20 years, with no Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) and no requirement of bank guarantees. The successful bidders will be allowed to make payment in 20 equal annual installments, duly protecting the NPV at the interest rate of 7.2%. The spectrum acquired through this auction can also be used for setting up isolated captive non-public networks for industries.
The spectrum auction is expected to attract participation from major telecom operators, such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL, as well as new entrants like Adani Group. According to the results of the previous spectrum auction held in July 2022, Reliance Jio emerged as the biggest bidder with Rs 88,078 crore for 24,740 MHz of spectrum, followed by Bharti Airtel with Rs 43,084 crore for 19,867.8 MHz of spectrum and Vodafone Idea with Rs 18,799 crore for 6,228.4 MHz of spectrum. Adani Group acquired 400 MHz of spectrum in the 26 GHz band for Rs 212 crore.
The spectrum auction will enable the roll-out of 5G services in India, which will provide faster data speeds, lower latency and higher capacity for various applications, such as Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The auction will also help in augmenting the existing telecom services and improving the quality of service for the consumers.
The details of the spectrum auction, including the reserve price, pre-qualification conditions, earnest money deposit (EMD), auction rules and other terms and conditions are specified in the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA), which can be accessed on the DoT website: https://dot.gov.in/spectrum-management/2886. The spectrum auction will commence on July 26, 2022.
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