Government receives Rs 657.89 billion from spectrum auction

The government has received Rs 657.89 billion from the sale of 964.8 MHz of spectrum in the recent auction. The government was able to sell about 20 per cent of the airwaves in the 800 MHz band, 79 per cent in the 1800 MHz band, 24 per cent in the 2100 MHz band and 62 per cent in the 2500 MHz band. Vodafone India emerged as the most aggressive bidder, acquiring about Rs 200 billion worth of spectrum. This was followed by Bharti Airtel, which acquired 173.8 MHz of spectrum across the 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands at Rs 142.44 billion. Meanwhile, Idea Cellular acquired 349.2 MHz of spectrum worth Rs 127.98 billion across the 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands.