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(Recasts, add detail on airwaves auction, company comments)
By Sankalp Phartiyal
NEW DELHI, March 2 (Reuters) - Reliance Jio Infocomm, the
telecoms company backed by tycoon Indian billionaire Mukesh
Ambani and tech giants Facebook and Google, won airwaves
worth roughly $8 billion in a $10.6 spectrum auction that closed
on Tuesday.
Jio picked up a total of 488.35 megahertz (Mhz) in frequency
bands of 800 Mhz, 1800 Mhz and 2300 Mhz, India's telecoms
secretary Anshu Prakash told reporters.
The top three Indian wireless carriers - Jio, Bharti Airtel
and Vodafone Idea - together bought airwaves worth 778.15
billion rupees ($10.60 billion) at the close of the two-day
spectrum auction, Prakash said.
Airtel purchased spectrum worth 186.99 billion rupees, while
Vodafone Idea bought airwaves for 19.93 billion rupees,
Prakash said.
Both Jio and Bharti said the additional airwaves will help
them serve hundreds of millions of new users, in addition to
their existing customers.
Vodafone said the new airwaves it acquired will help it
enhance its 4G coverage and capacity.
"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," Reliance Chairman
Mukesh Ambani said in a statement.
Ambani, who won the backing of Facebook, Google and Qualcomm
for Jio's parent firm last year, has previously said his company
is looking to launch 5G services in the country in the second
half of 2021.
Jio will make an upfront payment of 199.39 billion for the
airwaves, it said. The remainder will be paid over 18 years.
($1 = 73.3870 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; editing by Jason Neely and
Louise Heavens)
