Airtel praises Centre for prompt issuance of 5G spectrum allocation letters

Within hours of paying the first instalment for 5G spectrum, telecom companies were issued allocation letters by the Department of Telecom—which prompted Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal to publicly praise the government for ease of doing business.

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the government had issued a spectrum assignment letter for the 5G network.

Vaishnaw also said that the government had requested all telecom service providers (telcos) to prepare for 5G launch across India. This is the first time ever that the DoT handed out a spectrum allocation letter on the day of making an upfront payment.

Also read: Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw asks telcos to gear up for 5G launch

In the recently held 5G spectrum auction, the DoT received bids worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore from Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Adani Data Networks and Vodafone Idea.

Reliance Jio made payments of Rs 7,864.78 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 1,679.98 crore and Adani Data Networks Rs 18.94 crore.

While all telecom operators opted to make payments in 20 annual instalments, Bharti Airtel paid Rs 8,312.4 crore—equivalent to four annual instalments.

Bharti Airtel managing director and chief executive officer Gopal Vittal stated that paying four instalments upfront will help the telco roll out 5G in a concerted manner.

Praising the government for handing over allocation letters quickly, Bharti Airtel chairman said in a statement: “Yesterday Airtel paid Rs 8,312.4 crore towards spectrum dues and was provided with the allocation letter for the designated frequency bands within hours. E band allocation was given along with spectrum as promised.”

“No fuss, no follow up, no running around the corridors and no tall claims. This is the ease of doing business at work in its full glory. In my over 30 years of fight hand experience with DoT, this is a first! Business as it should be,” he said.

Praising the telecom department, Mittal said that it was “leadership at work” at the “helm of telecom”. “What a Change! Change that can transform this nation-power its dreams to be a developed nation,” Mittal said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address has assured the nation that 5G mobile services would start. The telecom companies were gearing up to start the 5G services—expected to be about 10 times faster than 4G—by the end of the year.