New Delhi: In the first auction of spectrum being held in five years in India, bids worth Rs 77,146 crore have been received on the first day on Monday. In this, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have made bids. For the auction that started on Monday, spectrum of more than 2,250 MHz, which contains telecom signals, is in seven bands, these were offered at a reserve or starting price of around Rs 4 lakh crore.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that on the first day spectrum of Rs 77,146 crore was bid but no takers were found for the airwaves in the premium 700 and 2500 MHz bands. He said that the auction will continue on Tuesday. The bids were found in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz.
About a third of the spectrum being auctioned is in the 700 MHz band, which was completely unsold during the 2016 auction.
Analysts said this is mostly because operators are not expected to diversify into new spectrum bands, which require large investment in equipment. In comparison, all other GHz bands are available at lower prices.
