5G Spectrum Auction: Who Leads The Race After Jio, Airtel, Adani, Vodafone Idea Pour In Rs 1.45 Lakh Crore?

After a better-than-expected response from players on the opening day, the 5G spectrum auctions entered the second day on Wednesday, with the fifth round of bidding currently underway.

The day-two of the bidding process began at 10 AM and it is widely expected to conclude much ahead of the scheduled closing time of 6 PM.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of Gautam Adani's Adani Enterprises are in the race to bid for 5G spectrum.

The companies have put in bids of about Rs 1.45 lakh crore to buy 5G airwaves on Tuesday.

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the response on the first day exceeded all expectations and will surpass the record of 2015, when revenue collection from auction stood at Rs 1.09 lakh crore.

A total 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radiowaves worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore is up for bidding across multiple bands.

Bids on the opening day were largely across 5G spectrum bands of 3.3GHz, 26GHz and 700MHz apart from 1800MHz and 2100 MHz spectrum bands as well. There has also been some selective bidding in 900MHz and 2500MHz spectrum bands.

Who is in the lead on Day 2?

According to news agency PTI, analysts believe Ambani's Reliance Jio may be the most aggressive of those in the race.

The ICICI Securities analysis shows Jio has likely bid for the highest spectrum worth Rs 80,100 crore, and likely opted for 10MHz spectrum in the premium 700MHz band.

Bharti Airtel may have bid for spectrum worth Rs 45,000 crore, spending 20 per cent more than expected, possibly in 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands.

Vodafone Idea Ltd has likely bid for Rs 18,400 crore for spectrum, while Adani Data Networks should have picked 26GHz spectrum pan-India, it said.

When is the 5G rollout expected in India?

The government expects to allocate the spectrum in record time and 5G services are expected to be rolled out by September.