Bharti Airtel acquired 97 MHz spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz frequency bands through the auction concluded on June 26 for Rs 6,857 crore, sources familiar with the matter said.
The spectrum has been secured for 20 years, they said.
With this auction, Airtel successfully renewed spectrum that was expiring in 2024 along with additional spectrum purchase to bolster its mid band holding across the key circles, officials said, adding that the telco will now have the largest mid‐band spectrum pool in the country.
Additionally, Bharti Hexacom Ltd has acquired 15 MHz with an outlay of Rs.1,001 crore out of the total.
On June 26, telecom department's spectrum auction worth Rs 96,000 crore ended after seven rounds with bids worth over Rs 11,300 crore from Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
Airtel emerged as the biggest spender in the 5G auction. The Sunil Mittal-led telco has spent Rs 8,000-Rs 9,000 to buy airwaves in the efficient sub-GHz 900 MHz band as well as those in the 1800 and 2100 MHz bands, sources said.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) has possibly acquired spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2500MHz bands worth Rs 1200-Rs 1500 crore, they added.
The telecom department has put over 10,500 Mhz spectrum in eight frequency bands - 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz and 26 GHz, valued at Rs 96,238 crore at base price, for auction.
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