NEW DELHI: In the shortest telecom spectrum auction since 2013 for the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2300MHz bands, the government earned more revenues than any previous sale with the operators buying airwaves worth Rs 77,814.80 crore.

While the top bidder was Reliance Jio which bought most spectrum, worth Rs 57,122.65 crore in the 488.35MHz, 800MHz, 1800MHz and 2300MHz bands, Bharti Airtel picked 355.45MHz of spectrum amounting to Rs 18,698.75 crore and Vodafone Idea (Vi) picked up only 11.8MHz of airwaves worth Rs 1,993.40 crore, as the right to use spectrum.

The Ministry of Communications in a statement later said that the 2300 MHz band turned out to be the most sought after with 89.29 per cent spectrum being sold. Of 560 MHz spectrum put for auction under the 2300 MHz band, 500 MHz found takers. The spectrum bought by the telcos will be valid for 20 years.

After the auction ended, Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), said that a total quantity of 2308.80 MHz spectrum was put to auction, including spectrum expiring by December 2021 and bids were received for 855.60MHz. Excluding spectrum in 700MHz and 2500MHz bands, this is about 60 per cent of the spectrum put to auction.

Prakash indicated that the 700MHz band, which remained unsold, could be used for 5G auction. He further indicated that the unsold spectrum in the 700 and 2,500 MHz will be sent to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for a fresh reference.

"700 MHz band went unsold as expected despite a 40-45% reduction in base price over the last auction in 2016. However, we expect the government to further reduce the price of this band and release it for 5G auctions when the telcos may pick up some pockets," he said.

Commenting on its bids, Bharti Airtel said that the spectrum acquired through the latest auction will also help improve its coverage in villages by offering superior experience to an additional 9 crore customers in India.

“This gives Airtel the most formidable spectrum holdings in the country. Airtel has now secured pan-India footprint of Sub ghz spectrum that will help improve its deep-indoor and in-building coverage in every urban town,” the company said in a release.

The company added that despite the large amount of spectrum made available, the 700 mhz band did not get any bid from the operators as it made no economic case for them based on the high reserve prices.