5G Auction: Reliance Jio Bags Spectrum Worth Rs 974 Crore, Vodafone Idea Secures For Rs 3,510 Crore

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. has acquired 14.4 MHz of spectrum worth Rs 974 crore, while Vodafone Idea Ltd. bagged 50 MHz of spectrum valued at Rs 3,510 crore in India's second 5G spectrum sale on Wednesday, as per a Ministry of Communication press release. Telecom provider Bharti Airtel Ltd. secured 97 MHz of spectrum valued at Rs 6,857 crore.

India's second 5G spectrum sale concluded on Wednesday, raising less than 12% of the minimum Rs 96,238 crore the government had projected for the deal. The two-day auction saw a sale worth Rs 11,340 crore.

A total of 10 GHz of spectrum, ranging from 800 MHz to 26 GHz, was offered to telecom players. The offer was for radio waves that carry voice and data signals for mobile phones 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.

Reliance Jio had aggressively bought spectrum in the previous two auctions and no spectrum is up for renewal. The telecom company has a portfolio of spectrum in the sub-GHz band, aggregating 5x20MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands.