Reliance Jio ranked most eligible bidder in spectrum auction

Firm mops up 44,506 pts on basis of EMD, can bid in any band in any service area; Vodafone a distant second with 18,821 pts

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has released the earnest money deposit (EMD) and net worth details of the seven telecom companies that have submitted their applications for the spectrum auction scheduled to start on October 1.

Of the seven firms, Bharti Airtel has the maximum net worth of Rs 66,643.20 crore, followed by Reliance Jio with Rs 45,042.69 crore, Idea Cellular with 24,935.84 crore, Vodafone with Rs 23,040 crore and Reliance Communications at Rs 12,639 crore.

Aircel and Tata Teleservices have a negative net worth of Rs 10,506.13 crore and 9,482.15 crore respectively. For Tata Teleservices, net worth of promoters has been taken into consideration for bidding on behalf Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML) in Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Based on the amount of EMD, Jio has been allocated the maximum number of eligibility points to bid in auction. Jio has 44,506 points and the company can bid in any band in any service area followed by Vodafone with 18,821 points, Idea with 13,750 points and Airtel with 13,640 points. The three incumbents too can bid in any band in any service area.

Tata Teleservices has been allocated 6,919 points and it can bid in all bands for Mumbai and Maharashtra circle on behalf of TTML. For 800 MHz, it cannot bid in Assam and North East, for 900 and 1800 MHz, it cannot bid in Assam, Delhi and North East.

Reliance Communications has band in any service area except Assam and North East.

Aircel has 792 points and it cannot bid in any circle in 700, 800 and 2500 MHz bands. For the remaining bands, it can bid in select circles.

The government has put up 2354.55MHz of spectrum for auction, which at reserve price is valued at Rs 5.66 lakh crore. Industry sources say spectrum worth around Rs 80,000 crore is likely to be sold in auction.

The latest spectrum auction is important as the government is putting up large chunks of spectrum for the first time, which should help remove fragmentation, improve quality of services. Also, the rules have been made as bidder friendly as possible.
The government expects revenue of Rs 98,995 crore from communication services in 2016-17, which includes proceeds from spectrum auction and other fees levied by the Department of Telecom (DoT).       

Company	EMD amount (Rs cr)	Net worth (Rs cr)	Paid-up capital (Rs cr)	Eligibility points
Reliance Jio	6,500	45,043	45,125	44,506
Vodafone	2,740	23,040	1,677	18,821
Idea Cellular	2,000	24,936	3,600	13,750
Bharti Airtel	1,980	66,643	1,998	13,640
Tata Teleservices	1,000	(-)9482	9,212	6,919
Reliance Communications	313	12,639	1,244	2,158
Aircel	120	(-)10,506	8,335	792