NEW DELHI: India’s 5G spectrum auction — the telecom sector’s most watched event — has been put off again, this time till June 25.
On Tuesday, the Department of Telecommunications amended the notice inviting applications, which outlines the auction rules, deferring the sale by another 19 days. This decision comes even as the country awaits the formation of the next government, with the election results giving no absolute majority to any single party.
This is the second time the spectrum sale has been pushed back. It was originally scheduled for May 20, but was then postponed to June 6 in the wake of the general elections.
Mock auctions will now be conducted on June 13 and 14, the DoT said in its notification amending the auction rules.
5G airwaves in eight bands — 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz — worth over ₹96,000 crore at the base prices will be on sale.
Analysts expect the upcoming airwaves sale to be a low-key affair with bidding likely to remain muted as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have adequate 5G airwave holdings and since 5G penetration remains low in absence of any consumer-centric use cases for the masses.
Airtel and Vi are likely to focus on specific bands in markets where they face spectrum renewals while some analysts say Jio could virtually sit this one out as it has no airwave renewals anytime soon.
Industry experts, in fact, estimate that the government will likely collect a modest ₹1,200 crore in the first year from the upcoming sale as they expect Airtel, Jio and Vi to collectively buy just around ₹12,500 crore of 5G airwaves — or about 13% of the ₹96,320 crore of spectrum on offer.
This was reflected in the modest earnest money deposits (EMDs) — in the ₹300-3,000 crore range — submitted by the telcos, which are the lowest since the 2014 sale and almost 79-86% lower than the submissions in the previous 5G auction of 2022.
EMDs are indicative of a telco’s bidding strategy and spectrum buying capacity.
Source: The Economic Times
