The Indian government has commenced the spectrum auction today at 10 am to enhance telecommunications services across India, the Ministry of communications said. The Spectrum Auction 2024 will see the participation from three Indian private telecom service providers: Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio Infocomm. The total spectrum being auctioned amounts to 10,522.35 MHz across various bands, valued at Rs 96,238.45 crore at reserve prices.
Also Read: India Spectrum Auction 2024: Details of Spectrum Put To Auction
Bands Up for Auction
"To augment existing telecom services and maintain continuity of services, the government will hold the spectrum auction on Tuesday, 25 June 2024. This is in line with government’s commitment to facilitate affordable, state-of-art high quality telecom services to all the citizens," the government said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Communications announced that the following spectrum bands will go up for bidding in the upcoming auction - 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz. To note, The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated the Spectrum Auction and Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) was issued on 08 March, 2024.
The spectrum auction includes a total of 10,522.35 MHz distributed across various frequency bands. In the 800 MHz band, 118.75 MHz of spectrum is available across 19 Licensed Service Areas (LSAs), valued at Rs 21,341.25 Crores at reserve prices.
The 900 MHz band offers 117.2 MHz of spectrum spread over 22 LSAs, valued at Rs 15,619.6 Crores. In the 1800 MHz band, 221.4 MHz of spectrum is divided among 22 LSAs, with a total value of Rs 21,752.4 Crores.
The 2100 MHz band provides 125 MHz of spectrum across 15 LSAs, valued at Rs 11,810 Crores. For the 2300 MHz band, there are 60 MHz of spectrum available in 6 LSAs, priced at Rs 4,430 Crores. In the 2500 MHz band, 70 MHz of spectrum is spread across 5 LSAs, with a total value of Rs 2,300 Crores.
The 3300 MHz band offers the largest chunk, with 1,110 MHz of spectrum across 22 LSAs, valued at Rs 16,251.2 Crores. Finally, in the 26 GHz band, 8,700 MHz of spectrum is available in 21 LSAs, priced at Rs 2,734 Crores. Overall, the total spectrum auction is valued at Rs 96,238.45 Crores based on reserve prices across all bands.
Highlights of the Spectrum Auction:
Using the Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) e-auction format, the process will assign spectrum for a period of 20 years. Notably, successful bidders will have the option to pay in 20 equal annual instalments, maintaining the Net Present Value (NPV) at an interest rate of 8.65 percent. Importantly, there will be no Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) for the acquired spectrum, the government said.
Spectrum acquired through this auction can be surrendered after a minimum period of ten years. Ahead of today’s live auction, mock auctions were conducted earlier this month to familiarise participants with the e-auction platform. The Auction Catalogue was published yesterday (June 24th) to ensure accuracy in bidder data.
