Spectrum auction ends in just two days with bids worth ₹11,340 crore

Auction of mobile spectrum falls short of government estimates, garnering only 12% of minimum value.

An auction of radiowaves that carry voice and data signals for mobile phones ended within two days on June 26, garnering less than 12% of the ₹96,238 crore minimum value that the government had estimated for the spectrum on offer.

“The auction, where a total of 10 GHz of spectrum ranging between 800 MHz to 26 GHz was offered, got total bids worth ₹11,340 crore,” sources said.

Five rounds of bidding happened on the opening day on June 25, but on June 26 (Wednesday), there was not much action, leading to officials declaring the end of the auction at around 11.30 hrs.

“The total bids received is more or less the same, as what came in on Tuesday,” sources said, adding only 140-150 MHz are estimated to have been sold. On offer were radiowaves in the bands of — 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz and 26 GHz.

During the last auction in 2022, which turned out to be a seven-day affair, a record over ₹1.5 lakh crore worth of 5G telecom spectrum was sold, with billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio emerging as the top bidder, cornering nearly half of all the airwaves (worth ₹88,078 crore).

At that time, telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of ₹43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea bought Spectrum for ₹18,799 crore.