Jio inks pact with Airtel for acquisition of spectrum; deal value at Rs 1,497 crore

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New Delhi: Reliance Jio on April 6 said it has signed an agreement with Bharti Airtel for the acquisition of some spectrum in 800 MHz band in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai circles at an aggregate deal value of about Rs 1,497 crore.

Through this agreement, Airtel will receive a consideration of Rs 1,037.6 crore from Jio for the proposed transfer. In addition, Jio will assume future liabilities of Rs 459 crore relating to the spectrum, Bharti Airtel said in a separate statement.

“Bharti Airtel today announced an agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to transfer the ‘Right to Use’ of Airtel’s 800 MHz spectrum in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz) and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) to Jio,” Airtel said. The agreement is subject to a statutory nod.

Gopal Vittal, MD and 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 unutilised. This is aligned to our overall network strategy”.

With the enhanced spectrum footprint, especially contiguous spectrum, and superior infrastructure deployed, RJIL has further increased its network capacity, Jio said.

“With this trading of right to use spectrum, RJIL will have 2X15 MHz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band in Mumbai circle and 2X10 MHz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band in Andhra Pradesh and Delhi circles, thereby further consolidating its spectrum footprint in these circles,” Jio added.