Bharti Airtel (Airtel) on Friday said that its agreement with Jio Infocomm (Jio) to tranfer the ‘Right to Use’ of its 800 MHz spectrum in three circles to Jio, has been closed.
“Airtel has received ₹1,004.8 crore (net of tax) from Jio for the proposed transfer. In addition, Jio will assume future liabilities of ₹469.3 crore relating to the spectrum,” Airtel said in a statement.
Airtel in April had agreed to transfer the ‘Right to Use’ of its 800 MHz spectrum in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz) and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) to Jio.
Airtel had said that through this agreement, it would receive a consideration of ₹1037.6 crore from Jio for the proposed transfer and in addition, Jio will assume future liabilities of ₹459 crore relating to the spectrum.
“The sale of the 800 MHz blocks in these three circles has enabled us to unlock value from spectrum that was unutilised. This is aligned to our overall network strategy,” said Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (India and South Asia), Airtel.
According to analysts also, trading of unutilised spectrum can help the companies earn revenue, and in return provide better network reach to the customers across the country.