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5g auction: India received bids worth 1.45 trillion rupees ($18.2 billion) on the first day of the 5G broadcast auction, where firms led by some of Asia’s richest men, including Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, competed for the rights to could decide who will rule the digital era.
The sale is likely to bring in record revenues, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters in Delhi, adding that the auction is expected to end on Wednesday.
The final proceeds of the 5g auction, as well as details of the highest bid, will appear on Wednesday.
The ministry aims to allocate spectrum to wireless operators by August 15, and ultra-fast 5G services will start rolling out in some Indian cities in September or October, the minister said.
The sale of the radio broadcast will be a major financial boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as it seeks to tame inflation and reduce the fiscal deficit. Local rating company ICRA Ltd. in June it estimated that the sale of radio broadcasts could fetch up to 1.1 trillion rupees.
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While Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. paid the highest pre-auction deposit, signaling it is likely to be the most aggressive bidder, it is surprise entrant Adani Data Networks Ltd. whose bids will be closely scrutinized as rivals seek to map its telecom ambitions. though it said it was only buying the airwaves to build a private 5G network.
Reliance Jio’s smaller rivals Bharti Airtel Ltd are other contenders. led by billionaire Sunil Mittal and Vodafone Idea Ltd. – a joint venture between Vodafone Group Plc and the Kumar Mangalam Birla Group.
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The latest auction is also the first time Adani- and Ambani-led firms are bidding for the same asset, making it a highly-watched contest. Adani is entering a sector that Ambani disrupted in 2016 and has dominated ever since.
India has placed a block of 72 gigahertz of radio waves for 20 years in various frequency bands from 600 megahertz to 26 gigahertz. It also eased payment terms for wireless carriers as India tries to catch up with other countries like South Korea and China, which have had 5G networks for years.
