India's biggest-ever auction of spectrum that carries telephone and internet data signals, began on Tuesday with a total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) of 5G airwaves worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore on offer amidst expectations the telecom players will pocket sufficient radio waves at the base price itself.

Airwaves across Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), Mid (3300 MHz) and High (26 GHz) frequency bands are up for grabs.

It is expected that the mid and high band spectrum will be utilised to roll out 5G, where speeds would be 10 times higher than the 4G services.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship Adani Enterprises are in the race to bid for 5G spectrum, that offers ultra-high speeds (about 10 times faster than 4G), lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time, reports PTI from New Delhi.

In addition to powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), Fifth Generation or 5G would enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming among others.

The auction is being held for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.

“Given enough availability of spectrum, any sharp aggression or bidding higher than the reserve price appears unlikely,” Morgan Stanley said in a research report.

The brokerage said: “the highest amount of spectrum available per player for 5G bands on a pan-India basis would be worth Rs 48,900 crore. Assuming both RJio and Bharti Airtel bid to the maximum extent allowed, there would still be enough spectrum left to satisfy the maximum amount that the other two players can bid (based on their EMD amounts).”

The four players — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Adani Data Networks – have in all deposited Rs 21,800 crore. Reliance Jio has submitted an earnest money of Rs 14,000 crore and the new entrant Adani, a notional Rs 100 crore.