Spectrum Auction: Here’s Why 1,800 MHz Was The Most Sought-After Band

During the recent five-day spectrum auction that ended 6 October, the 1800 Mhz band attracted bids from all big-ticket telecommunication firms participating in the event. The band, which was harmonised recently, helped generate over 28,000 crore alone. This is a significant development, as operators did not bid aggressively for this band in previous auctions.

If reports in the media are to be beloved, harmonisation of the band played a vital role in making it suitable for bidders. The process of harmonisation makes a band more efficient and airwaves contiguous or ‘continuous’, which is absolutely critical for 4G services. The 1800 Mhz band is the most popular one globally for 4G-LTE application, but if such airwaves are non-contiguous, the quality of 4G services will suffer. Therefore, after harmonisation, operators considered the 1800 MHz band more valuable than earlier.

Moreover, technological innovation has transformed this band from 2G to 4G. Operators such as Telenor and Reliance Communications have successfully used the 1800 MHz for delivery of high-speed broadband services. This is yet another reason why operators were interested in this band.

Reliance Jio has bought spectrum in this band for Rs 2,154 crore, while Airtel has invested over Rs 3,000 crore to buy spectrum in this band.

According to IANS, the maximum bids of 112 in the 1,800 MHz band were received for the Jammu and Kashmir circle with a provisional winning amount of Rs 2.60 crore per block. The second highest bids in the 1,800 MHz band were 81 and received for the Assam circle with a provisional winning amount of Rs 8 crore per block.