Reliance Communications acquires spectrum in 11 circles

Reliance Communications (RCom), part of the Anil Ambani-led group, has acquired new and top-up 800/850 MHz spectrum in 11 circles.

The acquisition of the new spectrum intends to achieve a contiguous five MHz spectrum holding nationwide in the recently concluded telecom airwaves auction, a company statement said on Friday.

RCom stated that with this acquisition, it has become India's first and only operator with nationwide footprint of contiguous 800/850 MHz spectrum.

"RCom operations now future-proofed across all Circles for most advanced LTE (long term evolution) technology at most optimal cost," the statement said. "RCom invests nearly 50 per cent of its total outlay on 800/850 MHz band," the company said.

The company also bought 900 MHz spectrum in Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and won 1800 MHz spectrum in Odisha and northeast. It has re-acquired spectrum in 900 and 1800 bands in four of the seven 2G spectrum expiry circles.

Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said RCom has put a bid worth Rs 4,299 crore in the latest round of auctions. It would do an upfront payment of Rs 1,106 crore.

RCom said its auction participation centred on building appropriate spectrum portfolio and value creation for next 20 years.

In separate statements on Thursday, while Vodafone India said it has acquired spectrum in 12 telecom circles in the recently concluded spectrum auction for a total cost of Rs 25,810 crore, Bharti Airtel said it has not only renewed telecom spectrum in the 900 MHz band for all the six areas where the licence period was expiring this year, but also for additional circles across the bands, for a total consideration of Rs 29,130 crores. 

Bharti Airtel was the second highest buidder after Idea Cellular, which has retained the airwaves and won additional bandwidth for areas covering 73 per cent of its revenues.

The telecom major said spectrum won for data services will enable to expand 3G services to 13 circles, covering 80 per cent of its overall revenue while rolling out 4G services in 10 service areas, covering 61 per cent of gross revenues.

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio Infocomm has acquired the right to use telecom spectrum in 13 key circles across India. With this, in addition to the pan-India spectrum in the 2,300 MHz band, the company has these airwaves in either 800 MHz or 1,800MHz bands, or both, in 20 out of a total of 22 circles in the country.