The Indian government is considering auctioning capacity above 10.5 GHz across eight frequency bands.
The Indian government yesterday formally launched a new spectrum auction to allocate additional 5G frequencies to telecom operators in the country.
The government will auction capacity above 10.5 GHz in eight frequency bands for the provision of various services, including 5G. The bands offered in this process are 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz.
“The government is holding this spectrum auction to augment existing telecommunication services and maintain service continuity. This is in line with the government’s commitment to provide affordable, state-of-the-art, high-quality telecommunication services to all its citizens,” the government said in a statement.
The total minimum bid price for spectrum licenses on offer is 962.4 billion Indian rupees ($11.53 billion), although some frequencies are expected to receive no bids.
The new 5G spectrum will be allocated for a 20-year period, with the successful bidder able to pay in equal instalments over 20 years, according to the Ministry of Transport.
“The spectrum acquired in this auction can be returned after a minimum of 10 years,” the Ministry of Transport said. “No spectrum usage fees will be charged for the spectrum acquired in this auction,” it added.
The DoT had earlier confirmed that it had received applications from local operators Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. Reliance Jio Infocomm has paid the highest earnest money deposit (EMD) for the upcoming auction and is poised to bid for the largest number of airwaves, followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The amount of EMD will determine the bidding points each operator receives, impacting their ability to bid for the number of circles and amount of spectrum they desire.
Mock auctions were conducted on June 3, June 13 and June 14 to familiarise bidders with the auction platform.
Earlier reports, citing sources familiar with the matter, had said that the 5G auction has seen only a few bids from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) for spectrum renewal. Bharti Airtel and Vi’s spectrum renewal permits expire in 2024 in some parts of India. Airtel’s spectrum renewals this year are in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam. Vi is up for renewal in West Bengal (900MHz and 1800MHz) and western Uttar Pradesh (900MHz).
Earlier this year, the Department for Transport confirmed it would not auction the 600MHz band in the next spectrum auction as it aimed to carry out further studies to ensure there was no interference with satellite operations.
India completed its first 5G spectrum auction in July 2022. Reliance Jio won the most spectrum, spending $11 billion. Airtel acquired spectrum worth $5.4 billion, and Vodafone won spectrum worth $2.4 billion. Finally, Adani purchased spectrum worth about $27 million, which it plans to use to provide private 5G network services.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has already completed the rollout of 5G technology in India. The company is rapidly expanding its 5G network using Standalone (SA) architecture starting October 2022. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel had previously said that it plans to cover all of India with 5G technology by March 2024.
Rival telecom operator Vodafone Idea plans to launch its 5G network later this year and is currently in talks with vendors for 5G contracts, according to recent reports.
