Next spectrum auction could see telecom companies spending Rs 1 lakh crore

The upcoming spectrum auction, which is most likely to happen in September this year, will see India's telecom companies spending as much as Rs 1 lakh crore on buying spectrum across bands, as per Crisil, the credit rating agency.

As per reports, the top three telecom carriers of India, viz. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, will most likely account for 55-60% of this amount, so that they can buy enough spectrum to be ready to battle Reliance Jio Infocomm's entry.

"Unlike previous auctions, operators do not face business continuity issues this time, but we expect reasonably healthy participation as incumbents will ramp up their 3G and 4G spectrum holdings ahead of Reliance Jio's entry," Crisil Research director Ajay Srinivasan said in an official statement.

It was last month that the Union cabinet had said that this will be India's biggest spectrum sale, since the government is planning to auction over 2200 MHz of airwaves across 4G bands (700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands), along with the 2100 MHz 3G band.

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