What will the biggest ever airwaves sale in India do to your data speed and tariff

The biggest ever spectrum auction in India is underway where the govt has put for sale spectrum across all bands that will helps telcos improve their 2G, 3G and 4G services.

In this round of auction, telcos are battling it out for airwaves particularly to boost their 4g coverage. The major players in this round of spectrum auction include market leader Bharti Airtel, new entrant Reliance Jio, Vodafone and Idea.

It is likely that the spectrum auction will be over much sooner this time as ample amount of spectrum is put under the hammer and telcos can lap up what they need.

While the country is holding the biggest spectrum auction for the companies here’s what it means for the consumers.

It’s all about 4G

This round of spectrum auction is all about 4G. With Reliance Jio’s entry the market is buzzing with action. The govt is has put on auction 1800MHz, 2300MHz, 2500MHz and 700MHz all these airwaves are 4G airwaves. Telcos are bidding aggressively for 1800MHz to fill the gap in their network and all telecom operators are investing in spectrum bands like 2300MHz due to low pricing. The premium LTE band 700MHz is finding no takers as telecom operators had earlier raised concern about its price. However only Reliance Jio is eligible for pan India 700MHz with the earnest money deposit (EMD) made by the telco. Jio may look at cheaper circles in 700MHz towards the end of the auction.

Four major 4G players

The spectrum auction is likely to carve out four major 4G telecom operators Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea as Vodafone and Idea Cellular have concentrated on 4G bands of 2300MHz and 1800 MHz so far. This move will help both telcos build a strong foothold for 4G to compete with Jio and Airtel in terms of their 4g coverage. Vodafone has pumped in Rs. 47,700 crore equity investments from its parent firm right in time for the spectrum auction. And with four strong operators proving 4G services it will mean the competition is going to be fiercer.

Fierce competition

There is 2354.55Mhz airwave on sale this time around making it the biggest auction ever for airwaves. There is enough for all operators to build a much stronger network. While Jio and Airtel both have strong 4G network it is a big opportunity for Idea and Vodafone to cover the gaps in their 4G network and build a strong coverage all across the country. With four major players emerging out of the auction, it will mean fierce competition that will ensure better services from all telecom operators.

Data Speed and Tariff

With Reliance Jio’s entry we already saw some correction in 4G data tariff across all players. With strong network and stronger competition it will mean further reduction in tariff going forward. And data is important market for all players with spectrum gaps managed and extra airwaves bought during auction, all players will have better networks hence huge improvement in data speed can be expected.

With the large amount of spectrum made available by the govt for the telecom operators, customers can expect improvement in ongoing issues such as call drops and poor data speed and with four strong 4G players emerging in the market, the level of competition is likely to result in better services for consumers.