Airtel likely to skip auction of ‘expensive’ 700 MHz band

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel is likely to give the 700 MHz band a miss again in the upcoming spectrum auction due to its high price. Additionally, the telco doesn’t need to renew most of its airwaves that are expiring from July, a top company official said.After all telecom operators gave the 700 MHz band – considered very efficient for 4G services and even 5G in the future – a pass in the 2016 auction, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reduced its reserve price by 43% to ₹6,568 crore a unit, or ₹32,840 crore for a block of 5 MHz.“It (700 MHz) is just too expensive to buy at the current price,” the official told ET. The Cabinet earlier this month approved the sale of airwaves in an auction due to be held before March 31, 2021. A total of 2251.25 MHz worth ₹3,92,332.7 crore at the reserve price will be offered in seven frequency bands ranging from 700 MHz to 2500 MHz.The executive said Airtel is under no pressure to buy expiring airwaves. Bharti Airtel – with about 294 million users – has airwaves, mostly in the 1800 MHz band, which are set to expire across eight circles from July. As per brokerage Motilal Oswal, Bharti Airtel will have to spend ₹13,000 crore to renew all its airwaves at the base price.“… but we already have enough backup spectrum in those circles,” the official said.The official said Airtel may bid for some amount of sub-GHz airwaves. “We need to see if we need to add more capacities here and there,” he said.The auction is considered crucial for Reliance Jio because a substantial portion of its own airwaves and those it shares with Reliance Communications in the 800 MHz band expires in 12 and 14 circles, respectively, starting July 2021. Without these airwaves, Jio’s services in these circles will be impacted.The Airtel executive said the telco was financially comfortable to buy airwaves in the next 4G spectrum auction and it doesn’t need to raise additional funds.“Our balance sheet is quite strong and we have done a big round of fundraising of $8 billion in the last few months,” he said, adding that all capex is being done through existing cash flows.Airtel declined to comment.The official reiterated Airtel’s opposition to setting up separate India-specific 5G standards. 80015041

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