The second day of the 5G spectrum auction on Wednesday was marked by limited action on the bidding front even as the Centre went on the overdrive to announce a massive Rs 1.64 lakh crore (trillion) support for ailing Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Total bids for the 5G spectrum auction moved up to Rs 1.49 lakh crore (trillion) by the end of the second day.
The bidding will continue on Thursday. The pace of bidding on the first day had raised expectations that the entire exercise would be over on Wednesday.
Total bids on the first day were Rs 1.45 lakh crore. “700 MHz has seen a good response, it has been sold this time. Good response in other low and mid bands as well,” telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The 700 MHz band is ideal for coverage in high-density areas and deep data networks. It will help in enhancing indoor coverage. The bidding and demand seen on the second day is 87 per cent more than the government’s internal estimates of Rs 80,000 crore for the auction.
According to the rules, it will not be known until the auction concludes as to which company got how much air waves. There were five rounds of bidding on Wednesday. Analysts said Ambani’s Reliance Jio may be the most aggressive player. ICICI Securities said Jio has likely bid for the highest spectrum worth Rs 80,100 crore, and opted for 10 MHz spectrum in the premium 700 MHz band.
Bharti Airtel may have put bids worth Rs 45,000 crore,spending 20 per cent more than expected, possibly in the 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands. Vodafone Idea Ltd has likely bid for Rs 18,400 crore for spectrum, while Adani Data Networks should have picked 26 GHz spectrum pan-India.
“It appears that Adani has bought 26 GHz spectrum in 20 circles (except in Delhi and Calcutta), and its total spectrum purchase could be 3350 MHz for Rs 900 crore. Our estimate is provisional as data does not reflect the entire purchase by Adani. We believe,it should have purchased 200MHz spectrum in all circles except Gujarat, where it would have bought 400 MHz,” ICICI Securities said. In 700 MHz, bids in Calcutta totalled Rs 865 crore, Delhi Rs 2,545 crore and Mumbai Rs 2,350 crore.
