Telecom operators – Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, have submitted their applications for participating in the upcoming spectrum auction scheduled for June 6, officials in the know said.
The department of telecommunications (DoT) has not received an application from any other company to participate in the auction, unlike the last spectrum auction when Adani Data Networks also participated in the auction.
As per the notice inviting applications, May 6 was the last date for companies to submit their applications for participating in the auction. The mock auction will be held on June 3.
Officials said, the applications submitted were on expected lines as no major bidding is expected during the auctions, and only spectrum which is up for renewal will be taken.
A total of 10,523.15 MHz spectrum across 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands, worth Rs 96,317.65 crore will be put to auction, as approved by the Union Cabinet in February.
For the upcoming auction, DoT is expecting a subdued response from telcos as demand is expected to be restricted to airwaves which will be up for renewal in some circles. The government is not expecting anything beyond Rs 10,000 crore revenue from the upcoming auctions, according to officials.
A weak response is expected this time as already the telecom operators have acquired 4G/5G spectrum worth Rs 1.5 trillion in the last spectrum auctions in 2022.
In the last spectrum auction, Reliance Jio spent Rs 88,078 crore towards 4G/5G spectrum, followed by Bharti Airtel at Rs 43,084 crore, and Vodafone Idea at Rs 18,799 crore.