Airtel fortifies its strong spectrum portfolio

Acquires 173.8 Mhz spectrum in 1800/2100/2300 Mhz bands through auction for Rs 14,244 cr

  • Secures spectrum requirements for the next 20 years, well positioned to continue leading India’s digital revolution

  • Airtel now has 4G and 3G spectrum in all circles, giving it an unmatched mobile broadband footprint across India; also has 2G spectrum across India

New Delhi, Oct 6, 2016: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), the India’s largest telecommunications services providers, today said that it has acquired 173.8 Mhz spectrum across 1800/2100/2300 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 14,244 cr in the latest spectrum auction conducted by the Department of Telecom, Government of India.

Airtel has further strengthened its pan-India spectrum portfolio and secured its spectrum requirements for the next 20 years. The Company now has 4G and 3G spectrum in all circles, giving it the widest mobile broadband footprint across the country. It already has 2G spectrum in all circles. Over the past six years, the Company has acquired spectrum worth appx. Rs 100,000 cr through auctions and trading.

Through strategic buying, in the latest auction, Airtel has built new 4G/3G capabilities in 7 circles. The Company has spent Rs. 10,340 cr towards enhancing data capacities in 15 circles. It has also spent Rs 321 cr towards completing some of the existing partial blocks in 4 circles, giving it a second Carrier for its future needs. Airtel thanked the Department of Telecom for addressing the long standing demand of the industry by putting out a large quantum of spectrum across multiple bands in the latest auction. It also complimented the Department of Telecom for its progressive policies on spectrum trading and sharing, and the recent initiatives around harmonization of spectrum in various bands. Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said,

“At the outset, we would like to thank the Government for making abundant spectrum available for auctions. Airtel now has a solid spectrum portfolio that will enable it to continue leading India’s data revolution. We remain fully committed to the Government’s Digital India vision and will continue to invest towards making world-class and affordable data services available to customers in every corner of the country.”

The Company added that despite the large amount of spectrum made available, certain bands did not get any bid from the operators as it made no economic case for them based on the high reserve prices. Three to four national operators with robust 700 Mhz based broadband networks have the potential to accelerate India's progress to the top league of digitally enabled nations. Therefore, the pricing of the 700 Mhz band spectrum needs to be addressed on priority for the nation to benefit from the digital dividend arising out of this high quality spectrum band.

Airtel Spectrum Acquisition in the latest auction

Circles Band Mhz Rs. Cr.
3G, 4G FD/TD LTE New Capability
Kerala 2100 5 885
Assam 1800 3.8 152
Maharashtra 1800 5 1590
Jammu & Kashmir 1800 2.4 31
Kolkatta 1800 2 302
Gujarat 2300 10 612
Himachal Pradesh 2300 10 10
3582
3G/4G FD/TD LTE Additional Carrier
Assam 2300 10 20
Bihar 2300 10 62
Delhi 2300 10 1430
Kolkatta 2300 10 330
Karnataka 2300 10 980
Mumbai 2300 10 1460
North East 2300 10 10
Orissa 2300 10 40
Andhra Pradesh 2300 10 683
West Bengal 2300 10 50
Tamil Nadu 2300 10 1320
Delhi 2100 5 2770
Bihar 2100 5 430
Rajasthan 2100 5 700
Jammu & Kashmir 2100 5 55
10340
4G FD LTE Future Additional Carrier
Haryana 1800 1.6 79
North East 1800 1.4 15
Punjab 1800 0.8 62
Rajasthan 1800 1.8 165
321
TOTAL 173.8 14244
This content extract was originally sourced from an external website (Bharti Airtel) and is the copyright of the external website owner. TelecomTV is not responsible for the content of external websites. Legal Notices

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