The 5G auction fetched $18 billion on its first day, Jio was the largest bidder. The bidding was generally fixed at the base price. Jim, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Adani Group are competing to get a 5G spectrum that would permit them to offer broadband at a speed 10 times higher than 4G. Communication Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw referred to the offering as "active'' and participation as "strong''. He told journalists that a range worth over $18 billion had been purchased at the very beginning of the auction, surpassing all assumptions.

The range won temporarily on the main day represents 73% of the reserve of the telecom firms at Rs 1.96 trillion, given their earnest money deposited with the government.

There were four rounds of biddings on Tuesday. Most telecom firms anticipate that the closeout should finish on Wednesday.

As per reports, Jio, Airtel and even Vodafone have already set up their trial sites in the 13 cities that are expected to get 5G services. The reports further revealed that Airtel and Jio have claimed to be the first operators to roll out 5G services in India.

5G services will be launched in 13 Indian cities, including Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and Gandhinagar.

Department of Telecommunication (DOT) is planning to start 5G services as soon as the end of this year. But it won’t be available to every corner of the country. Metro Cities tend to get 5G first, it may take years for rural places to get the service. For the record, there are still places in India where 4G connectivity is not available and it was just last week Pangong Lake in the Ladakh region got 4G connectivity for the first time, thanks to Jio.