🔺India’s biggest ever spectrum auction ended Monday, with bids upwards of Rs 1.5 lakh crore coming in after seven days of bidding spread over 40 rounds, belying initial expectations that the auction process would be wrapped up in under three days. Reliance Jio emerged as the largest spender in the 5G spectrum auction, acquiring almost half of all the airwaves sold for more than Rs 88,000 crore, and was also the only one (among four applicants) to have acquired spectrum in the premium 700 MHz band. 🔺A total of 51.2 GHz of spectrum was sold, of the total 72 GHz that was up for grabs – close to 71%. Union Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw said the total spectrum sold was “good enough” for covering all circles in the country, estimating “good coverage” of 5G in the next two-three years. The expected total first annual installment that the government will garner from the bidders has been pegged at Rs 13,365 crore. 🔺Apart from high-speed data connectivity for users, 5G also has the potential to enable a number of enterprise-level solutions such as machine-to-machine communications, connected vehicles, and more immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, among others.