National

ETV Bharat / business

Airtel transfers spectrum in 3 circles to Jio for Rs 1,497 crore

Airtel and Jio signed a spectrum trading agreement on Tuesday. According to this agreement, Airtel will transfer its ‘Right to Use’ of 7.50 MHz spectrum to Jio for an aggregate value of Rs 1,497 crore.

airtel
airtel

By

Published : Apr 6, 2021, 4:59 PM IST

Updated : Apr 6, 2021, 7:19 PM IST

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced an agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to transfer the 'Right to Use' of Airtel's 800 MHz spectrum in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz) and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) to Jio.

The agreement is subject to statutory approvals, Airtel said in a statement.

Through this agreement, Airtel will receive a consideration of Rs 1,037.6 crore from Jio for the proposed transfer of 7.50 MHz spectrum.

In addition, Jio will assume future liabilities of Rs 459 crore relating to the spectrum.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel said: "The sale of the 800 MHz blocks in these three circles has enabled us to unlock value from spectrum that was unutilised. This is aligned to our overall network strategy."

Read More:Tarun Bajaj gets revenue, BMRC’s Ajay Seth new economic affairs secretary

In a statement, Jio said that the trading agreement is in accordance with the spectrum trading guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications.

It said that with this development, Reliance Jio will have '2X15MHz' of spectrum in the 800MHz band in Mumbai circle and '2X10MHz' of spectrum in the 800MHz band in Andhra Pradesh and Delhi circles, thereby further consolidating its spectrum footprint in these circles.

"With the enhanced spectrum footprint, especially contiguous spectrum, and superior infrastructure deployed, RJIL has further increased its network capacity," Jio said.

Last March, Jio bought 488.35 MHz spectrum across 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2,300 MHz bands at an estimated cost of Rs 57,122.65 crore from the Department of Telecom.

(With IANS Inputs)

Last Updated : Apr 6, 2021, 7:19 PM IST

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

...view details