Bharti Airtel acquires 355.45 MHz spectrum for ₹18,699 crore

Bharti Airtel has now secured a pan-India footprint of Sub GHz spectrum that will help improve its deep indoor and in building coverage in every urban town.

March 02, 2021 02:15 pm | Updated 02:21 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

FILE PHOTO: A girl checks her mobile phone as she walks past the Bharti Airtel office building in Gurugram, previously known as Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo                        GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD           SEARCH GLOBAL BUSINESS 15 JAN FOR ALL IMAGES

FILE PHOTO: A girl checks her mobile phone as she walks past the Bharti Airtel office building in Gurugram, previously known as Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD SEARCH GLOBAL BUSINESS 15 JAN FOR ALL IMAGES

Bharti Airtel has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum for ₹18,699 crore in the spectrum auctions which concluded on Tuesday.

“Bharti Airtel... has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum across Sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands for a total consideration of ₹18,699 crore in the latest spectrum auction conducted by the Department of Telecom... This gives Airtel the most formidable spectrum holdings in the country,” the company said in a statement.

It added that all of the spectrum will enable the company to deliver 5G services in future.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, “...Airtel now has a solid spectrum portfolio that will enable it to continue delivering the best mobile broadband experience in India. We are most excited at bringing the power of Airtel services to an additional 90 million customers in India through the power of our Pan India Sub GHz footprint.”

The company added that despite the large amount of spectrum made available, the 700 MHz band bands did not get any bid from the operators as it made no economic case for them based on the high reserve prices.

“The 700 MHz band coupled with the 3.5 GHz band has the potential to accelerate India's progress to the top league of digitally enabled nations. Therefore, the reserve pricing of these bands must be addressed on priority in future. This will help the nation to benefit from the digital dividend that will inevitably arise out of this,” it said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel has now secured a pan-India footprint of Sub GHz spectrum that will help improve its deep indoor and in building coverage in every urban town. The company added that this “precious spectrum” will also help improve its coverage in villages by offering the Airtel experience to an additional 90 million customers in India.

“Through this auction, Airtel has also decisively strengthened its mid band and capacity spectrum holdings that will help it provide an exceptional customer experience at marginal capex. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in future.” it added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.