Airtel

PM Modi inaugurated the 6th India Mobile Congress at Pragati Maidan in Delhi, and launched officially launched 5G services on October 1. In the event, three major telecom operators demonstrated the potential of 5G services in India, in front of PM Modi. The operators also demonstrated that 5G services will help in precision drone farming, high-security routers, AI based cyber threat detection platforms, automated guided vehicles and more.

Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Mittal said Airtel 5G services would be available in India by August end. Exact costs of 5G plans are yet to be released. Airtel said it will begin implementing 5G network in collaboration with techgiants like Samsung, Nokia, and Ericsson. 5G services will roll out in 13 cities in first phase, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh,… read-more

Bharti Airtel reportedly paid Rs 15,519 crore to the government to clear its deferred liabilities for spectrum acquired in the 2014 auction, on December 17. The company expects the pre-payment will help to save at least Rs 3,400 crore. Reportedly, it acquired the spectrum for Rs 19,051 crore. ''These liabilities were due in annual installments from FY 2026-2027 to 2031-2032 and carried an interest rate of 10%,'' said Airtel.  

In a recent report published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio led an active wireless subscriber base with  6.1 million users while Bharati Airtel stood second at 2.3 million for the month of July. "Based on the active subscribers market, Jio now shares the market leadership position with Bharti," the report highlighted. The pace of Bharti Airtel's new subscribers slowed down in the recorded month.

Reliance Jio has become the top bidder at the 2021 4G spectrum auction by acquiring the 488.35MHz band for Rs 57,122.65 crore. Becoming the largest holder in 2300 MHz and sub-GHz spectrum, Jio increased its spectrum footprint by 55%. Similarly, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea have acquired 355.45 MHz and 11.80 MHz respectively, worth Rs 18,698.75 crore and Rs 1,993.40 crore. However, participants didn't bid for 700 MHz and 2500 MHz.