Bharti Airtel pays the DoT $1 billion in advance for 5G spectrum

Bharti Airtel, the second-largest telecom provider in India, reported in a regulatory filing on August 17 that it had paid the Department of Telecom (DoT) almost $1 billion for 5G spectrum.

The Sunil Mittal-led telco has already paid the first four years' worth of 2022 spectrum fees. According to Bharti Airtel, "the company expects that this upfront payment, along with the four-year freeze on spectrum dues and AGR related payments, will free up future cash flows."

Airtel is now optimistic that the business's future profits may be used to focus on the launch of 5G.

"Airtel also has access to Rs 15,740 crore rupees in capital through the rights issue, which is yet to be called," said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO of Bharti Airtel Ltd.

According to the regulatory filing, Airtel has cleared delayed spectrum liabilities totaling Rs 24,333.70 crores over the past year, months ahead of schedule.

The DoT has extended the deadline for businesses to pay for the spectrum they had purchased in the recently finished auctions to August 17. An official remark states that the deadline was extended by one day owing to the Mumbai and Maharashtra circles' August 16 bank holiday.

In the auction that ended on August 1, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea purchased spectrum.

The largest telecom spectrum auction in the history of the nation attracted bids of a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore, with Mukesh Ambani's Jio securing almost half of the airwaves sold with a price of Rs 87,946.93 crore. The group led by the wealthiest Indian, Gautam Adani, has submitted bids totaling Rs. 211.86 crore for 400 MHz in a band not currently utilised for providing public telephony services.

While Vodafone Idea Ltd purchased spectrum for Rs 18,786.25 crore, Bharti Airtel successfully offered Rs 43,039.63 crore.