With $4.5 billion of bids for 4G spectrum, Vodafone and Idea are going to give other telcos a tough time

India’s second and third largest mobile service providers, viz. Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, are going to show their buying power in the upcoming mega spectrum sale. Reportedly, they are going to collectively put in bids worth nearly $4.5 billion (Rs 30,600 crore) for 4G airwaves.

While Vodafone India will put down bids for roughly $3 billion, Idea’s estimates are said to be worth $1.5 billion; both want to maximise their data spectrum holdings in the 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands. However, as per industry analysts, Vodafone may also handpick some 2300 MHz spectrum, majorly in Indian metros.

As of now, Idea only has 4G spectrum in 10 circles, which is way too less when compared with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm, which hold circles across India.

As per industry experts, the spectrum sale will attract a maximum of $10 billion to $12 billion, which would be less than even the one-seventh of the $83 billion that can be earned if the government sells all airwaves on offer at their base prices.

The spectrum sale is going to take place in early September, where the Indian government will auction over 2200 MHz of airwaves across 4G bands (700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands), as well as the 2100 MHz 3G band.

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