Jio, Airtel's 4G footprint to strengthen after the telcos spend big on spectrum
Jio, Airtel's 4G footprint to strengthen after the telcos spend big on the spectrum The auction of telecom airwaves that concluded in just two days on Tuesday was perhaps the shortest in the past decade. Reliance Jio, the country’s largest telecom company, spent big and bagged almost half of the spectrum that was sold, while at the other end Vodafone Idea, which has been losing customers, spent the least. How the telecom companies went about in the auction was hardly surprising. Jio spent the most, to acquire new spectrum as well as renew existing spectrum, in 16 circles. In total, Jio paid Rs 57,123 crore to buy 488 megahertz of the spectrum of the 855.6 megahertz that was sold. The company now has the largest spectrum holding in the sub-GHz band (800 MHz). It renewed a higher spectrum in most metro and A circles (Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal), according to analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Jio said it has achie