Airtel preps for 5G with spectrum fee prepayment
Indian operator Bharti Airtel once more pay as you go spectrum dues to the Division of Telecom (DoT), paying INR83.1 billion ($1 billion) for airwaves acquired in a latest 5G auction to permit it to dedicate assets for its next-generation community rollout.
In an announcement, Airtel defined it paid 4 years of 2022 spectrum charges upfront, noting this coupled with a moratorium on dues and adjusted gross income associated funds for 4 years will unencumber future money flows.
Airtel dedicated $5.4 billion for 19800MHz of spectrum within the 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz bands.
MD and CEO Gopal Vittal added the cost will enable it to drive its 5G rollout in “a concerted method given our working free money stream”.
He acknowledged the corporate has entry to INR157.4 billion in capital from a deliberate rights issue.
Following DoT reforms giving operators the pliability to prepay their spectrum liabilities at any time, Airtel stumped up INR243.3 billion between December 2021 and March for previous auction wins.
