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Bharti Airtel to acquire 400 MHz spectrum from Adani Data Networks
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced it will acquire the rights to use 400 MHz of telecom spectrum in the 26 GHz band from Adani Data Networks Limited (ADNL). Airtel and its subsidiary, Bharti Hexacom Limited, have entered into definitive agreements with ADNL, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises.
ADNL had acquired airwaves in the 26 GHz band back in the 2022 5G spectrum auctions for Rs 212 crore but had been unable to deploy them. "The closing of the transaction is subject to satisfaction of the standard conditions (including conditions stated in the Spectrum Trading Guidelines) and statutory approvals," Airtel said in a statement.
The spectrum being added to Airtel's holdings is spread across six telecom circles and will help the telco boost 5G services in these areas, a company official said.
The 26 GHz band (24.25–27.5 GHz) has drawn particular interest from all telcos over the years. Also known as the mmWave band, it offers ultra-fast data transmission and low latency, even though its range is limited. As a result, it is sought after in dense urban environments and has been used for specialised enterprise applications and fixed wireless access.
Case in point, as much as 72 per cent of the spectrum on offer in this band received bids in the 2022 spectrum auctions. But with both Reliance Jio and Airtel already having picked up large chunks of the band on offer back then, it did not find any takers in the spectrum auctions in 2024.
With the number of 5G customers rising, Bharti Airtel had begun re-farming its mid-band spectrum to meet a major growth in 5G traffic in June last year. The telco's spectrum holdings across mid-bands such as 1800, 2100 and 2300 MHz across the country will be repurposed to provide 5G services. The move will allow enhanced browsing speeds in addition to improved indoor coverage.
The band was also tipped to have great utility for captive networks, or dedicated 5G networks designed for internal use by a single enterprise. This had prompted ADNL to make a move for it in 2022. However, the company had been unable to use the same. It had earlier said it planned to create a private 5G network for its operations and establish a unified digital platform that would accelerate the Adani group's digitisation of its core infrastructure, but it did not announce any progress on this front.
It had also been unable to meet the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)'s minimum rollout obligations.
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