Telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have applied to bid in the spectrum auction to be held from June 6. This information was given by news agency PTI on Monday (6 May). Earlier, in the last auction held in 2022, Jio had spent the maximum amount of Rs 88,078 crore on 5G spectrum. At the same time, the name of Adani Group company suddenly appeared among the bidders. However, there is no new name in this auction. Auction will be held at the base price of Rs 96.31 thousand crore. According to the news agency, the government will auction 8 spectrum bands for mobile phone services. This includes the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz and 26 GHz bands. All the available spectrum will be put in the auction at a base price of Rs 96,317.65 crore. In this auction, apart from the spectrum held by some companies going through bankruptcy, the spectrum which is expiring on completion of the period in 2024 will also be kept. DoT expects to get Rs 10,000 crore. The Department of Telecom (DoT) is not expecting a very good response from the telecom operators in the auction this time. This is because last year itself companies had purchased a lot of spectrum. The focus of the companies will be on topup of the spectrum which is in their operation and is about to expire. The telecom department is expected to get around Rs 10,000 crore from the auction. Vodafone and Airtel will have to renew licenses Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea will renew the old licenses expiring in the 4G bands of 1,800 MHz and 900 MHz. According to brokerage Jefferies, Airtel will have to renew airwaves worth about Rs 4,200 crore and Vodafone Idea about Rs 1,950 crore, while market leader Reliance Jio will not have to renew any spectrum this year. Last time Jio spent Rs 88,078 crore on 5G, in the 2022 spectrum auction, the government offered 72,097.85 MHz spectrum with a validity of 20 years. Reliance Jio had spent Rs 88,078 crore on 5G spectrum. After this, Airtel spent Rs 43,084 crore and Vodafone Idea spent Rs 18,799 crore. What is spectrum and how does it work? Airwaves are radio frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum that can carry information wirelessly for many services, including telecommunications. The government manages and allocates these airwaves. The spectrum can be divided into bands ranging from low frequency to high frequency. High-frequency waves carry more data and are faster than low-frequency waves, but they can be easily blocked or obstructed. Lower-frequency waves can provide wider coverage.
