Bharti Airtel today announced the acquisition of 355.45 MHz spectrum across 5 bands for a total consideration of Rs 18,699 crores in Spectrum Auction 2021 conducted by the Department of Telecom. Airtel has secured a pan India footprint of sub GHz spectrum that will help it improve its deep indoor and in-building coverage across urban areas and rural villages by offering Airtel’s services to another 90 million customers.
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.”
Sub-GHz Spectrum
In the 850 MHz band, Airtel picked up spectrum across Haryana, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, and UP West. In the 900 MHz band, Airtel picked up spectrum across Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, North East, Odisha, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), UP East, and West Bengal. Airtel picked up a total quantum of 48.85 MHz in 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 9,457 crores.
| Circle | 850 MHz | 900 MHz |
|---|---|---|
| Bihar | 0 | 3.4 |
| Gujarat | 0 | 4.2 |
| Haryana | 3.75 | 0 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 0 | 2.6 |
| Kerala | 0 | 4.6 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 5 | 0 |
| Maharashtra | 2.5 | 0 |
| North East | 0 | 1.2 |
| Odisha | 0 | 3.8 |
| Tamil Nadu | 0 | 5 |
| UP East | 0 | 5 |
| UP West | 5 | 0 |
| West Bengal | 0 | 2.8 |
| Total | 16.25 | 32.6 |
All figures are in MHz
Mid-Band Spectrum
In the 2100 MHz band, Airtel picked up spectrum across Assam, North East, and West Bengal. In the 1800 MHz band, Airtel picked up spectrum across Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), UP East, UP West, and West Bengal. Airtel picked up a total quantum of 86.6 MHz in the Mid-Band spectrum for a total consideration of Rs 6,172 crores.
| Circle | 1800 MHz | 2100 MHz |
|---|---|---|
| Assam | 0 | 5 |
| Bihar | 2.8 | 0 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 4.8 | 0 |
| Jammu &Kashmir | 10 | 0 |
| Karnataka | 11.2 | 0 |
| Kerala | 5 | 0 |
| Kolkata | 1 | 0 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 4.2 | 0 |
| North East | 0 | 5 |
| Odisha | 2.6 | 0 |
| Punjab | 5 | 0 |
| Tamil Nadu | 15 | 0 |
| UP East | 3.2 | 0 |
| UP West | 3 | 0 |
| West Bengal | 3.8 | 5 |
| Total | 71.6 | 15 |
All figures are in MHz
Capacity Spectrum
In the 2300 MHz band, Airtel picked up spectrum across Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, North East, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP East, UP West, and West Bengal. Airtel picked up a total quantum of 220 MHz spectrum for a total consideration of Rs 3,070 crores.
| Circle | 2300 MHz |
|---|---|
| Assam | 10 |
| Bihar | 10 |
| Gujarat | 10 |
| Haryana | 20 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 10 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 20 |
| Kerala | 10 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 10 |
| Maharashtra | 10 |
| North East | 10 |
| Odisha | 10 |
| Punjab | 20 |
| Rajasthan | 20 |
| UP East | 20 |
| UP West | 20 |
| West Bengal | 10 |
| Total | 220 |
All figures are in MHz
The company feels it has a strong mid-band and capacity spectrum holding that will help it offer improved customer experience and enable it to offer 5G services in the future.
Airtel has called on the Government to address the pricing of the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz band on priority in the future to help the nation benefit. 700 MHz band despite having ample spectrum put to auction went unsold without any bids from any operators due to the high economic case for them due to high reserve prices.
Can you kindly & ASAP publish the spectrum purchase data for Jio,.
It is now live, enjoy reading 🙂