Bharti Airtel and its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom have signed agreements to acquire 400 MHz of spectrum in the 26 GHz band from Adani Data Networks Limited (ADNL). The deal, announced on Tuesday, involved spectrum in six key circles, namely Gujarat, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
The acquisition will proceed once standard conditions under the Spectrum Trading Guidelines and statutory approvals are met. The transaction also gives Airtel rights to 100 MHz in Gujarat and Mumbai each, and 50 MHz each in the remaining four states.
Airtel stated the move is in line with its strategy to bolster its 5G services across the country. The 26 GHz spectrum band is primarily used for high-speed 5G services and enhances network capacity in densely populated areas.
No financial details of the deal have been disclosed yet.
This may potentially contribute to Airtel’s recent collaboration with SpaceX to provide Starlink internet in India, the approval of which is still under debate by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
This partnership was to provide Starlink services to business customers, schools, and health centres in underserved areas, and use Airtel’s ground infrastructure to support Starlink services. The agreement with ADNL could boost Airtel’s position in the competition with Jio Platforms Limited in bringing Starlink to India.
Additionally, Airtel also partnered with the quick commerce platform, Blinkit, for the delivery of SIM cards to its customers within ten minutes, the company announced this month. Claiming to be a first-of-its-kind service by a telecom company, the services are now live in 16 cities in the country, with plans to add more cities and towns over time.
This came just after the company announced its collaboration with Nokia, early this month, for the deployment of Nokia’s Packet Core appliance-based and Fixed Wireless Access solutions for providing a better network experience for Airtel’s growing 4G/5G customer base.
