Get ready for the rollout of 5G Spectrum, says Telecom Minister

18 Aug 2022 , 12:06 PM

On Thursday, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urged telecom service providers to get ready for the rollout of 5G following the issue of spectrum allocation letters. At first, the Department of Telecom (DoT) issued letters of spectrum assignment on the same day that the successful bidders of radio waves made advance payments.

“A letter assigning the spectrum has been released. Instructing TSPs to get ready for 5G debut, “On a social media website, Vaishnaw posted. In exchange for the spectrum they recently won in an auction, service providers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks, and Vodafone Idea paid the DoT about Rs17,876 crore.

With a bid of Rs87,946.93 crore, Mukesh Ambani’s Jio secured nearly half of the airwaves sold in the nation’s largest ever telecom spectrum auction, which attracted bids totaling a record Rs1.5 lakh crore. After paying an upfront payment to the DoT, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said that his business, Bharti Airtel, quickly received a letter allocating certain frequencies.

“This is the first in the more than 30 years I have had direct contact with DoT. The way business should be. At the top and in charge of telecom, leadership at work. Such a Change! Change that could help this country become the developed country it aspires to be, “added Mittal.

By obtaining a pan-India footprint in the 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands and choosing to purchase radio waves in the low and mid-band spectrum for Rs43,039.63 crore, Airtel was able to acquire 19,867.8 MHz of spectrum.

“After paying Rs 8,312.4 crore toward its outstanding spectrum debt, Airtel received the letter of allocation for the specified frequency bands in a matter of hours. As promised, the E band allocation and spectrum were granted. No fuss, no follow-up, no pacing the hallways, and no exaggerated claims. This is the ease of doing business in all its grandeur “Mittal stated. According to Airtel, 5G service will begin this month.

Bharti Airtel paid Rs8,312.4 crore, which is equal to four annual installments, whereas all telecom companies chose to pay in 20 annual installments. Reliance Jio has paid Adani Data Networks Rs 18.94 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs1,679.98 crore, and Reliance Jio Rs7,864.78 crore.

The group led by the wealthiest Indian, Gautam Adani, has submitted bids totaling Rs211.86 crore for 400 MHz in a band not currently utilized for providing public telephony services.