New Delhi: The government received a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore from the bids during the auction of the country’s largest telecom spectrum. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s company Reliance Jio has bought nearly half of the airwaves with a bid of Rs 88,078 crore. Gautam Adani’s group, India’s richest man, paid Rs 212 crore for 400 MHz or struck a deal for less than one per cent of all sold-out spectrum.

However, this band will not be used for public telephone services. Another telecom giant Sunil Bharti Mittal’s company Bharti Airtel has successfully bid Rs 43,084 crore while Vodafone Idea Ltd has bought spectrum worth Rs 18,799 crore.

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that out of 72,098 MHz in 10 bands, 51,236 MHz or 71 per cent have been sold.

He said total bids worth Rs 1,50,173 crore were received and the government will get Rs 13,365 crore in the first year. “Except for only 1,800 MHz band, for which there is stiff competition between Jio and Airtel, spectrum has been sold at reserve price in all bands,” he said. ”With 5G spectrum, the speed of mobile internet will increase manifold and will provide more facilities. Last year, 4G airwaves worth Rs 77,815 crore were sold while Rs 50,968.37 crore was received during the auction of 3G in 2010.

Reliance Jio was the biggest bidder during the spectrum auction, paying Rs 88,078 crore for 24,740 MHz in five bands. The company has acquired 700 MHz spectrum which can provide a signal range of 6 to 10 km with a single tower and it will form a good base of 5G services in all the 22 circles or zones of the country.

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