5G spectrum auction ends with record bids worth over ₹1.5 lakh crore; Jio top bidder

5G spectrum auction garnered bids worth ₹1.45 lakh crore on the first day on July 26, with subsequent days seeing only marginal incremental demand in some circles

A record over ₹1.5 lakh crore worth of 5G telecom spectrum was sold in a seven-day auction ending on August 1, which saw billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio emerging as the top bidder to consolidate its leadership position.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter said provisional data puts the total bids at ₹1,50,173 crore.

The mop-up from the 5G spectrum, capable of offering ultra-high speed mobile internet connectivity, is almost double at ₹77,815 crore worth 4G airwaves sold last year and triple of ₹50,968.37 crore garnered from a 3G auction in 2010.

Reliance Jio was the top bidder to the airwaves capable of offering speeds about 10 times faster than 4G, lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time. It was followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd.

New entrant Adani group is said to have bought 26 Mhz spectrum for setting up a private telecom network.

The sources said details of which company bought how much spectrum would be known once the data from the auction is fully compiled.

Both Bharti and Jio have likely built a pan-India spectrum footprint for 5G, with Vodafone Idea’s selective participation.