Indian operator Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to transfer the right to use Airtel’s 800 MHz band spectrum in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz) and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) to Jio. The agreement is in line with the Department of Telecom's trading guidelines, but remains subject to regulatory approval, the companies said.
Under the terms of the deal, Airtel will receive INR 10.37 billion from Jio for the proposed transfer. In addition, Jio will assume future liabilities of INR 4.59 billion relating to the spectrum licence fees.
According to Bharti Airtel’s CEO Gopal Vittal, the sale of the 800 MHz blocks in these three circles has enabled Airtel to unlock unused spectrum. Jio meanwile is able to increase its network capacity with improved infrastructure and contiguous frequencies.
