5G spectrum auction: Bids worth ₹1.45 lakh crore on Day 1

The government has received record bids of ₹1.45 lakh crore after four rounds on Day 1 of India’s first-ever 5G spectrum auction. The crucial, albeit pricey, 700 MHz band saw bidding for the first time, along with strong interest in the mid-band (3.3-3.67 GHz) and high-band (26 GHz) airwaves. All bids were at base price.

All three private telcos – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel NSE -0.75 % and Vodafone Idea NSE 0.00 % – are said to have bid for mid- and high-band airwaves as they set the stage to launch services which can offer 10 times higher mobile internet speeds than 4G, industry executives and government officials said. New entrant Adani Data Networks, a unit of the diversified Adani Group, is expected to have put in bids only for the high band, also known as the millimetre wave (mmWave), for use in its captive networks.