India's biggest-ever auction of spectrum that carries telephone and internet data signals, kicked off on Tuesday with a total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) of 5G airwaves worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore on offer.
The Union Cabinet approved the auction on June 15 and allowed non-telecom service providers to bid for spectrum to set up captive 5G networks.
The spectrum allocation will happen most likely in August, post-auction. The Department of Telecom expects Rs 70,000 crore to Rs 1,00,000 crore from the 5G auctions.
What Is 5G?
5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks.
It adds more speed and reduced latency to the network to make connectivity faster. The biggest benefit of 5G will be the ability to transfer huge amounts of data in just seconds.
In addition to speed, it will also have higher bandwidth and can thus connect more devices.
There are nine bands and over 72,000 MHz of spectrum on offer in the upcoming auction.
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.
Globally, 5G services have been launched in three bands -- 700MHz (coverage), 3.5GHz (5G coverage and capacity) and 26GHz (capacity and low latency).
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of Gautam Adani's Adani Enterprises are in the race to bid for 5G spectrum.
The amount of earnest money deposited by the bidders provides an indication of the amount of the spectrum a company wishes to buy.
An applicant is given eligibility points depending on its EMD, based on which it can target a certain quantum of airwaves in select spectrum bands
Reliance Jio has put in an earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 1,400 crore compared to Rs 5,500 crore EMD submitted by Bharti Airtel, Rs 2,200 crore by Vodafone Idea (Vi), and Rs 100 crore by the Adani Group, according to data shared by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Since the Adani Group has clarified that it has no intention of entering the consumer 5G space it is expected to bid for the 26 GHz millimetre band, which is a high speed low latency band.
Airtel is expected to restrict its bidding in the 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz band.
Jio, meanwhile, can buy spectrum worth around Rs 1,30,000 crore and could also bid for the premium 700 MHz band which is best suited for consumer-related applications.
5G download speeds can reach 10 gigabits per second. Compared to 4G’s 150 Mbps speed, 5G is said to have download speeds of up to 10 Gbps so, users can download heavy games and high-definition movies in seconds.
The 5G Services will roll out in 13 major cities including, Mumbai, Bangaluru, Delhi, Gurugram, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Ahmedabad.
The spectrum allocation will happen most likely in August and the rollout of the 5G services is likely in September or October.
