Adani Group, which was highly anticipated to drive the spectrum costs up, might not do that after all. In the 5G spectrum auction, there might be limited bidding from the Adani Group. A recent DoT (Department of Telecommunications) notification said that the Adani Group had submitted an earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 100 crore only. At the same time, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio have submitted an EMD of Rs 5500 crore, Rs 2200 crore and Rs 14,000 crore. All the interested parties paid Rs 1,00,000 as the application fee for the upcoming 5G spectrum auction. The bidders can bid in any band in any LSA (Licensed Service Area), subject to EPs/EMD/Spectrum cap. Reliance Jio is likely going to bid for spectrum in the range of Rs 70,000 crore (estimate based on previous spectrum auction).
See What Telcos Submitted as EMD in 2021 Spectrum Auction
In 2021, Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vi had submitted an EMD of Rs 10,000 crore, Rs 3,000 crore, and Rs 475 crore, respectively. Post the 2021 spectrum auction, Jio emerged as the biggest bidder with Rs 57,122.65 crore for 488.35 MHz of spectrum in several bands. Airtel spent Rs 18,698.75 crore for 355.45 MHz of airwaves, while Vodafone Idea only spent a mere Rs 1,993.40 crore. In 2022, the participation of the Adani Group in the spectrum auction is likely going to be in a very muted manner. It looks like the company isn’t very keen on spending money on 5G airwaves right now as it might not bring the desired return on investment any time soon. Adani Group might be counting on the fact that the future spectrum auction might bring airwaves at a lower cost, and since Adani doesn’t need to offer consumer 5G services, it isn’t too desperate to outbid other players for airwaves.
