Jio, Airtel, Voda Idea apply for participating in spectrum auction

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea on Tuesday submitted applications to participate in the Rs 3.92 lakh crore spectrum auction scheduled to start from March 1, according to official sources.

This round of auction will be held for 2,251.25 Megahertz (MHz) in seven frequency bands — 700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz 2100 Mhz, 2300 Mhz and 2500 Mhz — at a cumulative base price of Rs 3.92 lakh crore.

“Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea have submitted applications (for the spectrum auction),” an official source told. Bharti Airtel’s 12.4 MHz of spectrum in the 900 MHz band and 47 MHz in the 1800 MHz band, as well as Reliance Communications’ 44 MHz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band will come up for renewal.

Vodafone Idea needs to renew 6.2 MHz of spectrum in the 900 MHz band and 38.2 MHz in the 1800 MHz band. Some experts were of the view that the loss making telecom company Vodafone Idea (VIL) may not participate in the auction for renewal of spectrum in some circles.