Bharti Airtel has acquired 173.8 MHz spectrum across 1800/2100/2300 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 14,244 crore in the latest spectrum auction.
The company now has 3G and 4G 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 Rs 100,000 crore 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 crore towards enhancing data capacities in 15 circles. It has also spent Rs 321 crore towards completing some of the existing partial blocks in 4 circles, giving it a second carrier for its future needs.
Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, "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.
