Spectrum auction 2015: 900MHz band Final list of winning operators

Follow Us

The 900MHz band was the centre of all action and the waterloo of the incumbent operators. It was this band that is responsible for adding the maximum amount of money in the government’s kitty in the recently concluded auction. The 4 operators Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Rcom had licences in many of their existing operational circles coming up for renewal in 2015 and 2016 and in many of those circles the operators did not have sufficient fall-back spectrum in 1800MHz band.

This would mean they would be forced to shut down 2G operations in those circles where they would fail to retain their existing spectrum. Reliance Jio took full advantage of this plight of the incumbents by bidding fiercely to push up the winning price per block in this premium band and then pull out mid-way so as to increase the pay-out of the incumbents. Below is the list of operators and the circles in which they won 900MHz spectrum along with the quantity won.




OperatorCirclesQuantity (MHz)
Bharti AirtelAndhra Pradesh9
Assam6.2
Bihar1.6
Himachal Pradesh7.4
Karnataka8.8
North East8.8
Odisha1.2
Punjab10
Rajasthan6
West Bengal2.2
Vodafone IndiaGujarat6
Haryana6.2
Kerala6.4
Maharashtra5
Odisha5
Rajasthan6.4
Uttar Pradesh (E)5.6
West Bengal2.2
Idea CellularAndhra Pradesh5
Gujarat5
Haryana6
Karnataka5
Kerala6
Madhya Pradesh7.4
Maharashtra9
Punjab5.6
Uttar Pradesh (W)5
Reliance communicationsHimachal Pradesh5
Madhya Pradesh5

Bharti Airtel managed to win back spectrum in all 6 circles where its 900MHz licences were coming up for renewal along with 4 new circles where it added fresh 900MHz spectrum. Vodafone India won back its 900MHz spectrum in the 6 circles where it is expiring and added fresh spectrum in 2 new circles of Odisha and West Bengal. Idea cellular won back its 900MHz spectrum in all 9 circles where it is expiring. Reliance communications could only retain spectrum in 900MHz band in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh circles also it managed to get fall-back spectrum in 1800MHz in North East and Odisha circles. This means Rcom may have to shut down 2G operations in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal circles where they couldn’t win back spectrum in 900MHz nor get fresh spectrum in 1800MHz.

Also read: 2100MHz band final list of winning operators

Also read:  Provisional results of the spectrum auction

Rcom has sufficient spectrum in 2100MHz and 800MHz bands in these 3 circles but those are used for 3G and CDMA services respectively and do not have an ecosystem for 2G GSM services.

 

Reported By

Content writer

Esmail is our very own in-house spectrum specialist. He is passionate about Telecom, DTH and OTT video streaming apps. When not writing an article, you can find him binge watching shows on Netflix while sipping on a cup of coffee.

Recent Comments

biswadeepmondal :

JioAir Fiber is working very well in KPA & HLR. Sadly they don't have any data only plan.

REP: Airtel Expands Network Footprint in Bankura District of West…

Anonymous :

In line with Airtel's ?49 plan that offers 20GB of data for the same duration.

Jio Brings New Rs 49 Plan

SCKPA :

Airtel is claiming so many things. But at our location there have so many places where airtel 2g signal is…

REP: Airtel Expands Network Footprint in Bankura District of West…

Faraz :

Yes.. Corruption and arrogance is in the core of this organisation since beginning.. & Now even gov wants everything to…

BSNL's Operating Profits Signal a Positve Future

Mrs Mithilesh :

BSNL DoT aur ITS ka gulam hai, BSNL ke executives aur staff ki halat gulamo aur kutto se bhi battar…

BSNL's Operating Profits Signal a Positve Future

Load More
Subscribe
Notify of
20 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments