5G Spectrum auction enters 6th day, bids worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh cr received so far

"The 5G auction shows that the industry wants to expand. It has come out of problems and is getting into a growth phase. The auction results are very good, close to Rs 1,49,966 crore has been committed by the industry for buying the spectrum," Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a briefing in Mumbai, after a telecom investors' roundtable on Saturday, according to media reports.

Reports also said that the telecom players bid aggressively for Uttar Pradesh East Circle where demand for 1800 MHz- gained pace on Wednesday but seems to have slowed, indicating that the auction has apparently entered the last phase.

The Fifth Generation or 5G promises to offer speeds about 10 times faster than 4G, lag-free connectivity and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.

Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharati Airtel are the leading bidders, according to media reports.

Gautam Adani's Adani Data Networks, which wants to acquire the airwave rights to provide private network solutions along with enhanced cyber security in the airport, ports & logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations, also placed a bid.

Cash-strapped Vodafone-Idea is also vying for the 5G spectrum rights.

Until Friday, about 71 percent of the total spectrum put on the block had been provisionally sold, media reported.

On Tuesday, the first day of the auction, there were four rounds of bidding with participants pledging a total of Rs 1.45 lakh crore for the airwaves.

A total of 72,097.85 MHz of spectrum worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore has been put to auction.

Frequency bands on sale range from low (600 Mhz, 700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz, 2300 Mhz, 2500 Mhz) and mid (3.3-3.67 Ghz) to high (26 Ghz).