The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has lowered its expected revenue from the upcoming spectrum auctions. The government is reportedly planning a spectrum auction in the last quarter of FY24. DoT had earlier targetted to earn Rs 5,000 crores from the spectrum auctions. But now, according to an ET report, the telecom department has cut the revenue target to Rs 500 crore from the auction which is expected to take place in March 2024.
This is in line with what the telcos have expressed as well. Bharti Airtel has repeatedly said that they are not looking to spend much in the upcoming spectrum auctions. Airtel will only look to renew spectrum in the circles where it is expiring in the near term. It would be in contrast to the Rs 1.5 lakh crore that the government earned during the last auctions in August 2022.
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Vodafone Idea (Vi) has not even deployed 5G yet. The government has reportedly sent a show-cause notice to Vi asking them why a penalty should not be levied on them for not meeting the minimum 5G rollout obligations. Adani Data Networks has also been questioned here for the same thing. Only Airtel and Jio have rolled out 5G and met the minimum rollout obligations.
Due to the lower revenue expectations from the spectrum auctions, the expected revenues for DoT in FY24 from the overall sector have been cut to Rs 85,000 crore from earlier Rs 90,000 crore. As per the report, license fee and spectrum usage charge (LF/SUC) payments and spectrum instalments will bring Rs 50,000 crore to the government.
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Reliance Jio doesn't have spectrum expiring in any circle in the near future, so the telco is unlikely to spend any significant amount in the spectrum auctions.
