Bharti Airtel has acquired Aircel’s 4G spectrum in eight circles for ₹3,500 crore in a deal that will enable the telecom operator to offer 4G services in all 22 circles of the country.

The deal comes ahead of the mega launch of telecom services by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, which until now was the only player with pan-Indian 4G airwaves.

Airtel has done three acquisitions over the last two-three years to pitch itself against the Ambani juggernaut.

For Aircel, this signals a possible consolidation with the Reliance Communication-MTS combine.

Talks between Aircel and RCom for a possible merger have been interrupted due to high debt on the books of both the operators.

While Aircel can now retire some of its ₹20,000 crore debt, RCom has been trying to sell its tower assets to pare its debt.

More circles Airtel will get access to 20 MHz of Aircel’s 4G spectrum in eight circles, including Tamil Nadu (also Chennai), Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Assam, the Northeast, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Airtel can use this spectrum till September 2030.

However, its use of spectrum in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will be subject to the revision of spectrum caps expected during the upcoming auction by the Department of Telecommunications.

(Existing rules do not allow operators to own spectrum beyond a certain percentage of all airwaves available.)

Pan-India operator “With the above acquisition, Bharti Airtel will become pan-India 4G operator,” Airtel said.

The deal with Aircel comes just a few weeks after Airtel acquired Videocon’s 4G spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in six circles for ₹4,428 crore. Airtel has clearly shown its intent to pitch itself against RJio through aggressive buying of 4G spectrum, especially after the government allowed spectrum trading and sharing.

With Reliance Jio also about to launch its 4G services, the industry is set for consolidation.

Airtel’s shares closed at ₹334.30 crore on the BSE on Friday, up 0.78 per cent from the previous close.

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