Spectrum auction ends in 2 days, fetches £1.13 bn

The latest spectrum auction to sell airwaves to mobile companies ended within two days, with Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel buying nearly 60% of the £1.13 bn that was sold. After seven rounds of bidding, just over a quarter or 141 Mhz spectrum of the 533 Mhz that was on offer could be sold with Bharti acquiring 97 Mhz across three bands, followed by Vodafone (30 Mhz) and Reliance Jio (14.4 Mhz)
The auction revenue will be lower than govt’s estimated flow, although an over £20 bn dividend bonanza from RBI will more than make up for the shortfall. Govt had offered a total of 10 GHz of spectrum, ranging between 800 MHz to 26 GHz, which was worth £9.62 bn at the base or auction start price. There were no takers for at least three of the frequencies on offer, generating 12% of the base price.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have successfully renewed their expired spectrum in 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands, and further an additional quantum of 87.2 MHz worth £616.5 mn has been acquired by telcos to augment their services, DoT said in a statement.
“Spectrum auction 2024 was part of a continuous allocation process that is transparent, robust and progressive. Telecom service providers (TSPs) have taken spectrum not only for continuity of service but for expanding their services but the volume is limited because already a large part of the spectrum required was auctioned only last year,” communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporters.