Jio eyes large share of spectrum in auction

Mumbai: The department of telecommunications (DoT) on Thursday issued the list of pre-qualified bidders for the spectrum auction scheduled to take place in March. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has submitted the highest amount of ₹10,000 crore, while rival Bharti Airtel’s earnest money deposit (EMD) stands at ₹3,000 crore to participate in the auction. Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea Ltd (Vi) has deposited ₹475 crore, indicating that the telecom operator will largely look at renewing spectrum.

The DoT will auction 2,251MHz of spectrum at a reserve price of ₹3.92 trillion starting 1 March. Spectrum in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz, 2,300MHz and 2,500MHz bands have been put up on the block, while the 3,300-3600MHz bands, earmarked for 5G services by the telecom regulator, have been excluded from the auction.

Earnest money determines the eligibility of bidders based on the total amount deposited as per the requirements of a licensed service access (LSA). DoT said the earnest money deposited by the three telcos qualifies them to bid for any spectrum band and LSA in the upcoming auction.