Airtel fortifies its strong spectrum portfolio Acquires 355.45 MHz spectrum for Rs. 18,699 Crores

·         Secures Pan India Sub GHz spectrum; 90 million additional customers to be covered

·         Unmatched spectrum footprint that will help deliver the best experience

Mumbai, March 2, 2021: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s premier digital communication solutions provider, today said that it has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum across Sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 18,699 crores in the latest spectrum auction conducted by the Department of Telecom, Government of India. This gives Airtel the most formidable spectrum holdings in the country.

Airtel has now secured Pan India foot print of Sub GHz spectrum that will help improve its deep indoor and in building coverage in every urban town. In addition, this precious spectrum will also help improve its coverage in villages by offering the superior 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.

Airtel thanked the Department of Telecom for conducting a very efficient auction and putting out a large quantum of spectrum across multiple bands in the latest auction. 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 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.

About Bharti Airtel

Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its mobile network covers a population of over two billion people. Airtel is India’s largest integrated telecom provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. At the end of December 2020, Airtel had approx. 458 million customers across its operations. Airtel’s portfolio includes high speed 4G/4.5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1Gbps, converged digital TV solutions through the Airtel Xstream 4K Hybrid Box, digital payments through Airtel Payments Bank as well as an integrated suite of services across connectivity, collaboration, cloud and security that serves over one million businesses. Airtel’s OTT services include Airtel Thanks app for self-care, Airtel Xstream app for video, Wynk Music for entertainment and Airtel BlueJeans for video conferencing. In addition, Airtel has forged strategic partnerships with hundreds of companies across the world to enable the Airtel platform to deliver an array of consumer and enterprise services.

ANNEXURE – Airtel Spectrum Acquisition in the latest auction

Circles Band MHz Rs. Cr.
 

Sub GHz Spectrum

Bihar 900 3.4 683
Gujarat 900 4.2 1,567
Haryana 800 3.8 214
Himachal Pradesh 900 2.6 96
Kerala 900 4.6 915
MPCG 800 5.0 715
Maharashtra 800 2.5 1,275
North East 900 1.2 28
Odisha 900 3.8 327
Tamil Nadu including Chennai 900 5.0 1,175
UP – East 900 5.0 1,310
UP – West 800 5.0 805
West Bengal 900 2.8 347
 Sub Total 48.85 9,457

 

Mid band spectrum

Assam 2100 5.0 150
Bihar 1800 2.80 246
Himachal Pradesh 1800 4.8 86
J &K 1800 10.0 170
Karnataka 1800 11.2 1,221
Kerala 1800 5.0 475
Kolkata 1800 1.0 173
MPCG 1800 4.2 399
North East 2100 5.0 30
Odisha 1800 2.6 70
Punjab 1800 5.0 440
Tamil Nadu including Chennai 1800 15.0 1,500
UP – East 1800 3.2 490
UP – West 1800 3.0 345
West Bengal 1800 3.8 201
West Bengal 2100 5.0 175
 Sub Total 86.6 6,172

 

Capacity Spectrum

Assam 2300 10.0 20
Bihar 2300 10.0 70
Gujarat 2300 10.0 700
Haryana 2300 20.0 160
Himachal Pradesh 2300 10.0 10
Jammu & Kashmir 2300 20.0 20
Kerala 2300 10.0 200
MPCG 2300 10.0 90
Maharashtra 2300 10.0 720
North East 2300 10.0 10
Odisha 2300 10.0 50
Punjab 2300 20.0 420
Rajasthan 2300 20.0 120
UP – East 2300 20.0 180
UP – West 2300 20.0 240
West Bengal 2300 10.0 60
 Sub Total    220 3,070
GRAND TOTAL 355.45 18,699
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