Telcos bid for 5G worth ₹11,000 crore on first day of India's second spectrum sale

All three private carriers — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea – are believed to have bid for sub-GHz (900 MHz) and select mid-band airwaves (1800 MHz, 2100 MHz) as they look to bolster their respective 5G spectrum holdings. High-band 5G airwaves in the 26 GHz band appear to have been given a miss on the opening day of the airwaves sale. In this year’s auction, the government has put 10.5 GHz of 5G spectrum in eight bands — 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz — worth around Rs 96,238.45 crore at reserve prices on sale.