The Business Bytes
New Delhi, June 25 (TBB Bureau): The Union Government on Tuesday announced the commencement of a significant spectrum auction worth Rs 96,238.45 crore for telecom services. The Ministry of Communications stated that a total of 10,522.35 MHz of spectrum across various bands is up for bidding.
The auction includes spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands. Three major telecom companies — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio Infocomm — are participating in the auction.
“To augment existing telecom services and maintain continuity of services, the government will hold the spectrum auction on Tuesday,” the ministry announced. The 1800 MHz spectrum band is valued at Rs 21,752.4 crore at the reserve price, while the 800 MHz band is valued at Rs 21,341.25 crore.
“This is in line with the government’s commitment to facilitate affordable, state-of-the-art, high-quality telecom services to all citizens,” the ministry added.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) initiated the spectrum process on March 8. The spectrum will be assigned for a period of 20 years, with successful bidders allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual installments, protecting the NPV at an interest rate of 8.65 percent. Spectrum acquired through this auction can be surrendered after a minimum period of 10 years, and there will be no Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) for spectrum acquired in this auction.
