By India Blooms News Service Aug 20, 2022
#5GSpectrum, #5GSpectrumAuction, #DoT
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has received payment of around Rs 17,876 crore from four telecom companies -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks and Vodafone Idea -- for the 5G spectrum rights they won in a recent auction, media reports said.
All telecom operators have availed the option to pay in 20 annual installments, Bharti Airtel has paid Rs 8,312.4 crore equivalent to four annual installment, according to a report in the media.
Reliance Jio has made payment of Rs 7,864.78 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 1,679.98 crore and Adani Data Networks Rs 18.94 crore, it added.
"DoT has received a total payment of around Rs 17,876 crore. Only Bharti Airtel has paid for four annual installments at one go," an official source said, said the media report.
The 5G spectrum auction was country's biggest-ever auction of telecom spectrum and received a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of bids, with Mukesh Ambani's Jio bidding and acquiring nearly half of all the airwaves sold with Rs 87,946.93 crore.
Gautam Adani's Adani Data Networks has placed bids worth Rs 211.86 crore for 400 MHz in a band that is not used for offering public telephony services.
Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs 43,039.63 crore, while Vodafone Idea Ltd bought spectrum for Rs 18,786.25 crore.