On Tuesday, India’s 5G auction will begin, with four local companies competing for the chance to bid on the nation’s first 5G spectrum in advance of a 2023 launch.
All three of India’s major mobile operators—Reliance Jio, the market leader, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea—will participate in the bidding process.
The fourth candidate’s unexpected admission, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, could still upset the balance.
The fifth generation of mobile internet service, or 5G, promises incredibly fast download rates that can support emerging technologies like autonomous cars and virtual reality.
There will be 72 gigahertz of 5G spectrum available for bid, and successful bidders will have 20 years to use it.
The four bidders have together contributed $2.7 billion (218 billion Indian rupees) as earnest money, which is necessary to confirm a contract. The quantity of spectrum a corporation desires to purchase is indicated by the amount of earnest money that has been paid.
Jio from Reliance Industries will place competitive bids in the auction since it has deposited the largest earnest money deposit of all the competitors with the government: 140 billion rupees.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are two other significant mobile carriers that contributed earnest money, each contributing 55 billion rupees and 22 billion rupees, respectively.
Adani enters the 5G race
The Adani Group conglomerate, which operates mainly in infrastructure, put in only 1 billion Indian rupees as earnest money, which entitles it to bid for only a limited amount of spectrum.
Before the fourth bidder’s identity was disclosed, there was speculation of a new competitor in the mobile network and data space, which drove up expectations of higher bidding.
However, the company moved to douse the speculation. When contacted by CNBC, the Adani Group denied plans to enter the mobile phone space.
“We are participating in the 5G spectrum auction to provide private network solutions along with enhanced cyber security in the airport, ports & logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations,” the group said in a statement.
Although the tiny amount of earnest money precludes Adani from entering the mobile business statewide, there is still room to buy enough spectrum to serve important markets like Mumbai and New Delhi.
According to a recent estimate by Ericsson, one of the top suppliers of 5G technology in the U.S., “5G is predicted to account for roughly 40% of mobile subscribers – 500 million – by the end of 2027” in India.
According to the paper, “there is already a robust basis for 5G uptake” in the nation and “by then, smartphone users in the region are predicted to consume 50GB of data per month on average.”
The report used a recent survey to claim that there is substantial customer interest in implementing 5G. It was projected that in the first year of 5G’s availability, roughly 40 million smartphone users might switch over.