Reliance Jio-owned spectrum footprint increases by 55% to 1,717 MHz

Telecom operator, Reliance Jio on March 2 said that it has successfully acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India in the spectrum auctions conducted by the department of telecommunications (DoT).

Through this acquisition, RJIL’s total owned spectrum footprint has increased significantly, by 55 percent, to 1,717 MHz, it said in a statement.

Reliance Jio has the highest amount of sub-GHz spectrum with 2X10 MHz contiguous spectrum in most circles. It also has at least 2X10 MHz in 1800 MHz band and 40 MHz in 2300 MHz band in each of the 22 circles, the statement noted.

Jio pointed out that the  acquired spectrum can be utilised for transition to 5G services at the appropriate time, where Jio has developed its own 5G stack.

“Jio has revolutionised the digital landscape of India with the country becoming the fastest adopter of Digital Life. We want to ensure that we keep on enhancing experiences, not only for our existing customers, but also for the next 300 million users that will move to digital services. With our increased spectrum footprint, we are ready to further expand the digital footprint in India as well as get ourselves ready for the imminent 5G rollout, Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries said.

The 4G telecom spectrum auction 2021 ended on March 2 with the government receiving bids worth Rs 77,814.80 crore.

Reliance Jio emerged as the biggest bidder by acquiring a total of 488.35 MHz of spectrum for Rs 57,122.65 crore.

Reliance Jio in its statement said that it will make an upfront payment of Rs. 19,939 crore before March 31, 2021. 

As per the statement released, Jio has bid the most in the 800MHz airwave band.

The DoT aimed to raise at least Rs 3.92 lakh crore by auctioning the entire spectrum.

The DoT auctioned over 2,308 units of spectrum across the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands.

Bids were received for radio airwaves in the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz and 2,300MHz bands. Spectrum in the 700MHz and 2,500MHz bands remained unsold.

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