About 2,354.55 MHz of telecom spectrum goes under the hammer from Saturday in an auction that is expected to be crucial for the players as it comes amidst a fierce battle for supremacy between the latest entrant, Reliance Jio, and incumbent operators.

This round of spectrum sale is particularly critical for Vodafone and Idea, as they look to get access to 4G airwaves to complete their pan-India footprint. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, too, will try to consolidate their position by acquiring additional frequencies to bolster their broadband services.

The airwaves that will go on sale in different bands — 700MHz, 800 MHz, 900 Mhz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz — are worth ₹5.63-lakh crore. But the spends on spectrum will be somewhat discretionary in the absence of licence renewals.

In the earlier spectrum auction, at least two operators had to buy airwaves as their 20-year licence had expired. Ample supply in key bands will also restrict the premium over the reserve prices. The recent spectrum trading and merger and acquisition deals have opened up other avenues to acquire airwaves.

Seven telecom operators, including Airtel, Aircel, Idea, Reliance Communications (RCom), Jio and Vodafone, will place bids. They submitted total earnest money deposits (EMD) of around ₹15,000 crore. Going by this, analysts expect the auctions to yield around ₹80,000 crore.

There are likely to be bids for almost all of the frequency bands, but the 700 MHz may not see much action due to its pricing.

The government may fall well short of the ₹65,000-crore target it had set in Budget 2014-15 as auction proceeds, says IDFC Securities. In this year’s Budget, the Finance Ministry pegged the revenue from the telecom space at ₹98,995 crore, which includes ₹64,000 crore from the upcoming auction and various levies and services in the current financial year.

RJio is expected to consume the bulk of the 800MHz supply (2.5-5.0MHz across 13 circles) and in addition, contiguous 5MHz of 1800MHz in Bihar, J&K, Punjab and UP West to complete its pan-India footprint, IDFC said. Airtel will focus on completing its pan-India footprint of 2100MHz band and on the 1800MHz and 2300 bands, IDFC added.

“If there is little or no bidding for 700MHz because of the pricing, it will likely be auctioned later. We will instead focus on other bands that we require right now,” said an official from one of the leading operators.

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