Airtel gets spectrum allocation letter within hours of upfront

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel received a spectrum allocation letter within a few hours of making an upfront payment to the Department of Telecom, Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said on Thursday.

This is the first time that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has handed out a spectrum allocation letter on the day of making an upfront payment.

''Airtel paid Rs 8,312.4 crore towards spectrum dues and was provided the allocation letter for the designated frequency bands within hours. E band allocation was given along with spectrum as promised. No Fuss, No Follow Up, No running around the corridors, and No tall claims. This is the ease of doing business at work in its full glory,'' Mittal said in a statement.

The Department of Telecom has received payment of around Rs 17,876 crore from service providers -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks, and Vodafone Idea for the spectrum they won in a recent auction.

While all telecom operators have opted to make payments in 20 annual installments, Bharti Airtel paid Rs 8,312.4 crore equivalent to four annual installments.

''In my over 30 years of first-hand experience with DoT, this is a first! Business as it should be. Leadership at work-Right at the top and the helm of telecom. What a Change! Change that can transform this nation – power its dreams to be a developed nation,'' Mittal said.

Airtel acquired 19,867.8 MHz spectrum by securing a pan-India footprint of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands and select purchase of radio waves in the low and mid-band spectrum.

The country's biggest ever auction of telecom spectrum received a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of bids, with Mukesh Ambani's Jio cornering nearly half of all the airwaves sold with an Rs 87,946.93 crore bid.

Reliance Jio has made payments of Rs 7,864.78 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 1,679.98 crore, and Adani Data Networks Rs 18.94 crore.

Richest Indian Gautam Adani's group has placed bids worth Rs 211.86 crore for 400 MHz in a band that is not used for offering public telephony services.

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs 43,039.63 crore, while Vodafone Idea Ltd bought spectrum for Rs 18,786.25 crore.