The much-awaited auction for 5G spectrum began on Tuesday. Reliance Jio, Adani Group, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are the four major participants in the auction.
The telecom department is expecting anywhere between ā¹70,000 crores to ā¹1 lakh crore from the auctions. The number of days of auction will depend on the actual demand for the radiowaves.
The auction will be held for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.
India is at a crucial juncture in its digital development, with many companies — including multinationals like Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc — vying for a piece of the intersection between mobile and the nascent e-commerce landscape.
The auctions will be a financial boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which is trying to tame inflation and rein in the fiscal deficit.
The South Asian nation plans to sell 72 gigahertz of airwaves for a 20-year tenure in various frequency bands ranging from 600 megahertz to 26 gigahertz.