Airtel Enters Spectrum Trading Agreement Worth Rs 1,497 Crores With Reliance Jio

The trading agreement is as per the spectrum trading guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and is subject to the requisite regulatory and statutory approvals.

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Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) has entered into a definitive agreement with Sunil Bharti Mittal led Bharti Airtel Limited to acquire the right to use spectrum in the 800MHz band in Andhra Pradesh  (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz), and Mumbai  (2.50 MHz) circles through spectrum trading.

The trading agreement is as per the spectrum trading guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and is subject to the requisite regulatory and statutory approvals.

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The aggregate value for the right to use this spectrum is Rs 1,497 crores, inclusive of the present value of associated deferred payment liability of Rs 459 crores, subject to any transaction-related adjustments.

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 the spectrum that was unutilized. This is aligned to our overall network strategy."

With this right-to-use spectrum, RJIL will have 2X15MHz of spectrum in the 800MHz band in the 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.

The transaction is subject to the requisite regulatory and statutory approvals.

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Shares of RJIL parent Reliance Industries (RIL) closed down marginally at Rs 1983.65, while Bharti Airtel shares closed up marginally at Rs 532.1 in an almost flat Mumbai market on Tuesday.