Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea deposit earnest money with DoT for upcoming 5G spectrum auction on June 6

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said on Thursday, May 16, that the upcoming auction of spectrum has received a good response from telecom operators.

The existing telecom operators have already paid ₹4,350 crore as an earnest money deposit (EMD) with the DoT.

Bharti Airtel has deposited ₹1,050 crore EMD. Reliance Jio has deposited ₹3,000 crore EMD, while Vodafone Idea has submitted ₹300 crore EMD.
The DoT had received an EMD amount of ₹21,800 crore in the last spectrum auction.

The DoT will be offering spectrum worth ₹93,000 crore in auction on June 6.

The auction, with a base price of approximately ₹96,317 crore, will have all the available spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands as part of the auction.

Successful bidders will be granted spectrum rights for 20 years, with provisions allowing for payments to be made in 20 equal annual instalments.

Moreover, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has introduced a measure permitting bidders to relinquish acquired spectrum after a minimum tenure of 10 years.

The window for withdrawal of applications is scheduled to close on May 17, paving the way for the final list of bidders to be unveiled on May 20.

During India’s first 5G auction in July 2022, the government successfully garnered over ₹1.5 lakh crore in revenue.

This historic sale encompassed the allocation of more than 72 GHz of airwaves for a 20-year term, spanning across 10 5G bands.

The total worth of these airwaves at reserve prices amounted to a staggering ₹4.3 lakh crore.