Kolkata: Earnest money deposits (EMDs) put in by Reliance Jio<\/a>, Bharti Airtel<\/a> and Vodafone Idea<\/a> (Vi) show that operators are likely to once again give expensive 700 Mhz spectrum a miss in the upcoming auction, starting March 1, analysts said.
”Operators can buy spectrum worth 5-to-7x of the EMD<\/a>, and the deposits, which help understand maximum spectrum payout show they are unlikely to bid for the 700 Mhz spectrum band,” ICICI Securities<\/a> said in a note.
The EMD size is indicative of a telco’s bidding strategy as it gives an operator eligibility points, based on which it can target a certain quantum of airwaves.
The upcoming auction for nearly 2300 units of airwaves across seven 4G bands – from 700 Mhz to 2500 Mhz – are valued at Rs 3.92 lakh-crore at base price. But analysts expect the government to garner under Rs 50,000 crore from the sale as the most expensive 700 Mhz band is likely to stay unsold once again as in 2016.
According to ICICI<\/a> Securities, Jio, Airtel and Vi’s respective EMDs of Rs 10,000 crore, Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 475 crore caps their potential spectrum payouts at Rs 70,000 crore, Rs 21,000 crore and Rs 3,300 crore respectively in the upcoming sale.
The brokerage, though, said Bharti’s Rs 3,000 crore EMD is higher than expectations, while loss-making Vi’s modest sum is in line.
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