Spectrum auction 2021 is just two days away and all 3 telcos are busy charting out the field strategy to acquire essential spectrum at the least possible expense. As we had covered a few days back, Jio has deposited the highest EMD which will enable it to bid for the maximum quantity of spectrum in comparison to the other two operators. There is a good reason for this, as the current auction is crucial for Jio to be able to continue its operations Pan India uninterrupted.
Jio currently has a spectrum sharing agreement in the 850 MHz band with Reliance Communications in 20 telecom circles (Excluding Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir) out of which the agreement in 18 circles is set to expire later this year. The agreement will be valid only for 2 circles namely Assam and North East. Jio will have no Sub GHz holdings in 9 out of the 22 circles if it were to not buy fresh 850 MHz in the upcoming auction.
Also Read: Pan India telecom spectrum holding chart 2021
This auction is crucial for Jio like the 2014 and 2015 auction was for Airtel, Vodafone and Idea when they faced expiry of their 900 MHz spectrum holdings Pan India and were forced to renew them in order to continue their services smoothly. Sub GHz spectrum plays an essential role in augmenting indoor coverage for a network and is also cardinal for rural areas with limited tower density.
Jio currently holds a total of 1020.3 MHz of spectrum across all spectrum bands Pan India excluding the spectrum expiring later this year, in comparison Airtel holds 1616.2 MHz and Vi holds 1744.8 MHz which means Jio’s holding is the lowest in comparison to the other two private operators. This coupled with the highest 4G subscriber base implies that the operator is unable to deliver quality data experience on its network and needs an immediate infusion of fresh spectrum.
Jio need more band 40 in mpcg there site are overloaded then need more spectrum to give reliable service.
Yes thaey will surely go for more spectrum in all 3 existing bands and might even go for 1 new band this time.
I think jio will not complicate network by adding new band. They will prefer max spectrum in band 5 & band 40 . Enough is available to cater short term growth till 5g .
Band 3 will be third priority.
Let’s see whether my prediction of a new band is correct or not. We will know for sure by next week.
Excited for the auction as a subscriber. Feel for the govt. as bidding for 850 MHz, 900 MHz & 2100 MHz (if any) is going to one-sided. 2300 MHz might attract bidding from airtel & Jio
@Esmail will be waiting for your updates. Followed your 2016 updates and they were very informative. Thanks for the efforts
Thanks Ganesh, I’ll be doing the day wise reports for the auction this year as well, though I don’t expect the auction to last more than 2 days this time since the spectrum is abundant and there are just two serious bidders, unlike all the previous auctions.