Dept of Telecommunications Allocates Airwaves to three Telecom Firms By CIOTechOutlook Team

Dept of Telecommunications Allocates Airwaves to three Telecom Firms

CIOTechOutlook Team | Saturday, 03 August 2024, 02:28 IST

The DoT has distributed spectrum to the three private telecom companies that purchased airwaves in the June auction. The upfront payments were made by the companies on July 26, resulting in DoT receiving more than â‚¹1,000 crore from the spectrum sale. Although the original deadline for allocating frequencies was 30 days after payments were received, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has swiftly allocated spectrum as a harmonisation process was started earlier.

"The frequency assignment letters have been issued to the companies today (Thursday)," an official aware of the details told sources.

"Since it was a small auction and most of the airwaves have been harmonised, the allocation has been done fast. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea will continue to retain their existing frequencies with minor tweaks along with some fresh spectrum. Reliance Jio, too, has been allocated spectrum bought in the recent auction," an official said.

During the 5G spectrum auction ending on June 26, Bharti Airtel emerged as the top purchaser, acquiring 97 MHz of 5G airwaves valued at â‚¹6,856.76 crore. Vi, the second largest purchaser, bought 30 MHz of 5G spectrum for â‚¹3,510.40 crore from Vodafone Idea. Reliance Jio, the top player in the telecom market, purchased a small portion of 5G spectrum for â‚¹973.62 crore, marking its cheapest acquisition in an auction.

In the recent 5G spectrum auction in India, the government earned a modest â‚¹11,340.78 crore, with bidding activity being lower than expected in the seven-round auction. Airtel and Vi primarily purchased spectrum in regions where their licenses were scheduled to expire in the current year. On the other hand, Jio has spent the least amount because it does not have any permits that will expire in the near future.