The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has released a new application schedule for the spectrum auction 2024. For the unaware, due to the upcoming central elections, the telecom department had to change the schedule of the spectrum auction. Earlier, the auction was slated for May 20, however, later it was pushed 15 days ahead to June 6, 2024.
Following that, the telecom department has released a new schedule for the application submission procedure for the upcoming auctions. The mock auctions will be held on June 3 now, instead of the earlier May 13 or May 14.
Read More - Spectrum Auction 2024: DoT Excludes 700 MHz Frequency Band, Get all Details Here
DoT will publish the final list of bidders on May 9. The last time when DoT published this list, Adani Data Networks was the surprising addition. It will be interesting to see if there’s any such addition this time. Adani Data Networks is unlikely to participate this time as the company doesn’t plan to offer commercial services and only uses the spectrum to help Adani Group companies with their connectivity needs.
Read More - India Spectrum Auction 2024: Details of Spectrum Put To Auction
The upcoming spectrum auction will see companies bidding for spectrum worth Rs 96,317.65 crore. The Ministry of Communication 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.
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Telcos including Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are expected to participate in a muted manner. The telcos already invested plenty of money in the previous auctions for rolling out 5G. This time, they will only get the spectrum for areas where they are soon seeing airwaves expiring. Further, as 5G can’t be monetised at the moment, it won’t make sense for the telcos to invest a lot of money into 5G airwaves.
