DoT mops up Rs11,340 cr through auction of left over spectrum, licence renewal
29 Jun 2024
Department of Telecom has raised Rs11,340 crore revenue through auction of a total of 141.4 MHz of unsold spectrum from the previous auction and renewal of expiring spectrum licence in June 2024.
The auction was held to meet new spectrum requirement of telecom service providers and for renewal of expiring licences so as to ensure continuity of existing services and expansion of mobile service network.
All left over spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands from the previous round were put to auction in seven rounds of bidding on 25 and 26 June.
Most of bids were for spectrum in the 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2500 MHz bands. No bids were received for the 800 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands.
All three telecom service providers, including, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, participated in the auction
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have successfully renewed their expired spectrum licence in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands and also bought an additional 87.2 MHz of spectrum worth Rs6,164.88 crore.
About 77.6 per cent of the total available spectrum in the various bands were so far sold in two rounds of auction, leaving 388 MHz or 22.4 per cent of the spectrum still unsold.
Monetisation of 5G spectrum is an ongoing process and the auction process is still in progress. Unsold spectrum will be put to auction in the next round of auction.