The spectrum auction for mobile radiowave services worth Rs 96,000 crore has concluded with bids totaling about Rs 11,000 crore, as per sources.
The government offered over 10,500 Mhz spectrum in eight frequency bands – 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz, valued at Rs 96,238 crore at the base price for the auction.
According to the source, there were no fresh bids in the morning session. Bharti Airtel emerged as the biggest bidder in the auction, with the total bids amounting to about Rs 11,000 crore.
In the previous auction in 2022, a record over Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of 5G telecom spectrum was sold over seven days. Jio, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, emerged as the top bidder, acquiring nearly half of all airwaves worth Rs 88,078 crore. At that time, Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs 43,084 crore, and Vodafone Idea bought spectrum for Rs 18,799 crore.