The auction for 5G spectrum concluded on Wednesday afternoon, a day after it began, with the government obtaining a meager Rs 11,300 crore in bids over seven rounds, compared to airwaves worth Rs 96,317 crore that were up for sale this time.

The amount of bid received was consistent with analyst forecasts. In 2022, the government collected a record Rs 1.5 trillion from spectrum auctions. One of the reasons was that telecom companies had made a rush for the newly available 5G airwaves.

This time, Bharti Airtel emerged as the largest overall bidder due to its need for spectrum renewal in the 900 megahertz (MHz) band across various telecom circles, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) officials revealed. The government was auctioning 10,523.15 MHz of spectrum, which included a significant portion of voice and data spectrum, at a reserve price of Rs 96,317.65 crore. According to estimations, Reliance Jio bid for a limited number of bands. The operator was widely expected to avoid the 800MHz band because it is mostly unsold spectrum from the 2022 sale.

The 1800MHz band was in high demand. It was one of the few frequencies where Jio made an effort to buy spectrum. According to a Morgan Stanley analyst study published on Wednesday, Vi and Airtel control 31% and 29% of the 1800 MHz spectrum market, respectively.

The three private sector telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, have together put up Rs 4,350 crore as an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) for the auction, according to DoT's pre-qualified bidder list. According to research, this is five times smaller than the most recent 5G spectrum auctions in 2022.  Companies receive points based on the amount of EMD they deposit, allowing them to bid on the number of circles and spectrum they require. Higher points indicate greater ability to put bids. Telecom carriers can bid for spectrum worth up to 12 times their EMD.