Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom To Acquire 400 MHz Spectrum From Adani Data Networks

Bharti Airtel Ltd. on Tuesday announced that it, along with its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom Ltd., has signed definitive agreements with Adani Enterprises' arm, Adani Data Networks Ltd., to acquire the rights to use 400 megahertz of spectrum in the 26 gigahertz band across six states.

The spectrum includes 100 MHz each in Gujarat and Mumbai, and 50 MHz each in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, according to an exchange filing by Bharti Airtel.

As reported by Moneycontrol, nearly three years after making waves in the telecom sector by participating in India’s 5G auctions, Adani has decided to drop its plans to roll out private 5G networks across its ports, airports, logistics hubs, and power plants.

In the 2022 spectrum auction, Adani had acquired 100 megahertz each in Gujarat and Mumbai, and 50 megahertz  each in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, for a total of ₹2.12 billion, the report said.

According to government sources, Adani has paid around ₹570 million to the Department of Telecommunications, while the remaining amount;over ₹1.5 billion, excluding interest;will now be paid by Airtel to the DoT over time, the report further added.