The recent auction of radiowaves for mobile phones, which took place over two days, came to a close on Wednesday with results that fell below expectations. The government had estimated a minimum value of Rs 96,238 crore for the spectrum, but the auction only managed to garner Rs 11,340 crore in total bids.

The auction offered a total of 10 GHz of spectrum across various bands, ranging from 800 MHz to 26 GHz. Despite five rounds of bidding on the opening day, the action tapered off on Wednesday, leading officials to end the auction early.

Only around 140-150 MHz of spectrum is estimated to have been sold during this auction. The bands up for grabs included 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz.

In comparison, the previous auction in 2022 lasted seven days and saw a record-breaking sale of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of 5G spectrum. Reliance Jio emerged as the top bidder, securing nearly half of the airwaves, followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

It’s clear that the recent auction results did not meet expectations, but they provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of mobile telecommunications in India. Stay tuned for more updates on the mobile phone radiowaves auction!