Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said spectrum allocation letters have been issued to telecom service providers and asked them to start preparing for the roll out of 5G services in the country.
“5G Update: Spectrum assignment letter issued. Requesting TSPs to prepare for 5G launch,” Mr. Vaishnaw announced on microblogging platforms Twitter and Koo.
The Department of Telecom has received a total payment of about ₹17,876 crore from Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks and Vodafone Idea for spectrum they won in the recent auction.
The government had garnered a record ₹1.5 lakh crore worth of bids in the recently-concluded spectrum auctions.
Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal in a statement said that Bharti Airtel on Wednesday paid ₹8,312.4 crore towards spectrum dues, and was given the spectrum allocation letter for the designated frequency bands within hours of making the payment to DoT.
“In my over 30 years of first-hand experience with DoT, this is a first! Business as it should be. Leadership at work-right at the top and at the helm of telecom. What a change! Change that can transform this nation – power its dreams to be a developed nation," Mr. Mittal said.
Bharti Airtel acquired 19,867.8 MHz spectrum by securing a pan-India footprint of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands and select purchase of radio waves in low and mid-band spectrum for ₹43,039.63 crore.
“E band allocation was given along with spectrum as promised. No fuss, no follow up, No running around the corridors and no tall claims. This is ease-of-doing business at work in its full glory," Mr. Mittal added.
