Reliance Jio, by submitting a whopping ₹14,000 crore as earnest money for the upcoming 5G auction has made it’s ambitions and intent amply clear that it wants to rule the roost in Indian telecom waves, with newly appointed Ambani heir Akash at the helm. ₹100 crores earnest money deposit of Adani group which will make it’s foray into the telecom sector pales in comparison. The volume of airwaves a company can bid is determined by the amount of earnest money deposited.
The DoT has published the list of prequalified bidders which includes apart from Ambani and Adani, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea with ₹5,500 crores and ₹2,200 crores as EMD respectively. Total earnest money deposit by all four applicants amounts to ₹21,800 crore, which is 61.78% higher than the 2021 auction deposit of ₹13,475 crores
The auction for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands will start on July 26, fore 72 GHz (gigahertz) of spectrum valued at least at ₹4.3 lakh crore.
Jio aggression shows it’s appetite, strategy, and plan for purchasing spectrum. With the EMD amount as big as t ₹14,000 crore, Jio has secured 1,59,830 eligibility points for the auction. Adani group’s cautious and modest EMD is worth 1650 points for establishing a private network only. The eligibility points allocated to Airtel are 66,330, while that of Vodafone Idea are 29,370.
Also read: 5G Revolution Under Akash Ambani As He Takes Over As Jio Chairman
