The 5G spectrum auctions ended on Monday, Aug 1 and have helped the government garner Rs. 1.5 lakh crore compared with the reserve price of Rs. 4.3 lakh crore. While the government says the bid value has exceeded expectation, could it have earned more if the reserve prices had been more benign? Because reserve prices were high for some bands and hence ignored by telecom operators, would the quality of service to subscribers be impacted?  Let’s hear what Dr. V. Sridhar has to say about the use and sale of spectrum as a national resource.  Dr Sridhar is Professor, Centre for IT and Public Policy at the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. He is also the author of 'Data Centric Living: Algorithms, Digitization and Regulations’ that was published recently.