Airtel acquires 355.45 MHz spectrum for Rs 18,699 crore

Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday it has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum across sub-GHz, mid band and 2,300 MHz bands for a total consideration of Rs 18,699 crore in the latest spectrum auction conducted by the Department of Telecom.

The company said it has now secured pan-India footprint 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 coverage in villages by offering the superior Airtel experience to an additional nine crore customers in India."

Through this auction, Airtel has also decisively strengthened its mid-band and capacity spectrum holdings that will help it provide an customer experience at marginal capex. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in future.

Airtel said despite the large amount of spectrum made available, the 700 MHz band 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, said Airtel, 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."

( With inputs from ANI )