Vodafone Idea prioritises certain circles
The auction raised about €19 billion from Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and new entrant Adani Group.
India’s biggest ever spectrum auction is over after a week, with 71% of the available spectrum sold. Reliance Jio, which is controlled by India’s richest man, Akash Ambani was the top bidder. It is India’s biggest mobile provider, which rose rapidly to dominate the Indian market after its launch in 2016.
Jio acquired 10MHz of the 700MHz frequency band in 22 circles or service areas. It claims to have the “highest amount of sub-GHz spectrum with at least 2×10 MHz contiguous spectrum in both 700MHz and 800MHz bands across all 22 circles,” according to the company
Jio also acquired the “right to use 1,000MHz in the millimeter wave band (26GHz) in each of the 22 circles. This is expected to be invaluable in addressing the enterprise market as well as for HD streaming services.
Vodafone Idea
Vodafone Idea, which is struggling after years of wrangling with the Indian regulators, courts and government, spent about €2.31 billion on the 3300MHz spectrum in 17 targeted circles and 26GHz bands in 16 circles to “offer a superior 5G experience to our customers as well as strengthen our enterprise offerings and provide new opportunities for business growth in the emerging 5G era,” according to a press statement.
Whether its more surgical approach to acquiring spectrum improves its fortunes remains to be seen.
Second biggest
India’s second-largest service provider, Bharti Airtel, has spent INR430.84 billion (€5.32 billion) to acquire 19867MHz of spectrum across different frequency bands, but made no attempt to acquire bandwidth in the 700MHz spectrum, which was unsold in previous auctions due to its high reserve price.
Adani Group
The Adani Group, a multi-national business conglomerate that made a surprise entry in the auction through its subsidiary Adani Data Networks, purchased only 400MHz for just INR2.12 billion ($26.84 million). The quantity indicates that the spectrum will be mainly used for setting up 5G private networks for its ports, airports and other businesses across the country.