The first telecom spectrum auction in five years swiftly ended on Tuesday just a day after it commenced with 855.60Mhz of the 2,250Mhz spectrum sold for a consideration of Rs 77,814.80 crore.

Reliance Jio cornered more than half of the spectrum auctioned by the government over the past two days, offering about Rs 57,123 crore for the airwaves. Jio's owned spectrum footprint has risen “significantly” by 55 per cent through the acquisition, a company release said.

Bharti Airtel bid Rs 18,699 crore to pick up 355.45Mhz spectrum. Vodafone Idea Ltd bought 11.8Mhz spectrum worth Rs 1,993.40 crore.

The spectrum on offer was spread across seven bands — 700Mhz, 800Mhz, 900Mhz, 1800Mhz, 2100Mhz, 2300Mhz and 2500Mhz — worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore at their floor price. But there were no takers for the spectrum in the premium 700Mhz band and the 2500Mhz band.

“Given the Covid scenario in the country and other stress situations the sector is facing, the collection exceeded what the government’s expectations. We are happy the industry is confident and it has bid to acquire more airwaves,” telecom secretary Anshu Prakash said.

“The fact that in 700 Mhz no bid has come is something we will see. But there is also a distinct possibility that now with 5G technology that's going to come (bid for 700Mhz) sooner or later. If 700 MHz is not sold in this auction, nothing prevents it from being sold in the next auction,” Prakash said.

The government expects to get about Rs 15,000 crore in upfront payment this fiscal and the balance about Rs 11,000 crore in the next fiscal, officials said.

Icra vice-president Ankit Jain said, “While the value of total spectrum sold is only 19 per cent of the total value of spectrum on offer, post the auctions, the debt levels of the industry would increase further to around Rs 5 lakh crore as on March 31, 2022 and despite the improvement in the operating metrics, the debt protection metrics will continue to remain weak.”

Big gains

Reliance Jio placed orders for spectrum in all the 22 circles. The company had placed bids for 488.35 Mhz. Jio said it would make an upfront payment of Rs 19,939 crore and the remaining sum over the 18 year period.

Jio has spent Rs 34,491 crore for 800 Mhz, Rs 12,461 crore for 1800 Mhz and Rs 10,170 crore for 2300 Mhz.

Bharti Airtel said it has acquired 355.45 MHz across sub Ghz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands . Vodafone Idea Ltd (VI) placed bids for 11.8 Mhz in the auction.

Vodafone Idea said the spectrum acquired by it is in the five circles will help boost the company’s4G coverage and capacity.

Jio and Bharti are also gearing to roll out 5G networks in India and conserving some funding fire power for that as well, sources said..

“RJIL’s spectrum has been acquired in the most cost efficient manner with an effective cost of Rs 60.8 crore per MHz. The acquired spectrum can be utilised for transition to 5G services at the appropriate time, where Jio has developed its own 5G stack,” the largest telecom operator said in a statement.

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.”

He had earlier announced plans to launch 5G services in the country in the middle of this year.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said it now has a solid spectrum portfolio that will enable it to continue delivering the best mobile broadband experience in India. We are most excited at bringing the power of Airtel services to an additional 90 million customers in India through the power of our Pan India Sub GHz footprint."

“Despite the large amount of spectrum made available, the 700 MHz band did not get any bid from the operators as it made no economic case for them based on the high reserve prices. The 700 MHz band coupled with the 3.5 GHz band has the potential to accelerate India's progress to the top league of digitally enabled nations. Therefore, the reserve pricing of these bands must be addressed on priority in future. This will help the nation to benefit from the digital dividend that will inevitably arise out of this,” he added.

Vodafone Idea Limited said it has acquired spectrum in the 5 circles which will further help it to enhance 4G coverage and capacity, enabling superior digital experience for its customers. “In the next few years, the industry is readying to deploy 5G technology with India specific use cases. We are hopeful that a larger quantum of spectrum in globally harmonised bands, will be made available for all operators in the future as well as it would be at fair prices that allows operators to have the ability to rapidly roll out networks," it added.