India’s Big Telecom Auction: Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Buy New Spectrum

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under the Ministry of Communications, has successfully concluded the Spectrum Auction 2023-24. This auction was held to meet the evolving spectrum needs of India’s telecom service providers.

The auction took place over two days, from June 25 to June 26, and resulted in the sale of 141.4 MHz of spectrum across multiple frequency bands, generating a total revenue of Rs 11,340 crores. The auction aimed to address the expiring spectrum licenses set for renewal in 2024 and to sell off unsold spectrum from the previous auction held in 2022.

The spectrum was offered across the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands. However, most activity was seen in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, and 2500 MHz bands, with no bids in the 800 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands, likely due to recent 5G spectrum allocations.

All three major telecom operators in India—Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Infocomm, and Vodafone Idea—participated in the auction. They collectively purchased 141.4 MHz of spectrum, accounting for 26.5% of the available 533.6 MHz. The total revenue from the auction amounted to Rs 11,340 crores.