Airtel To Purchase Videocon’s Spectrum For Rs 4,428 Crore

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Ltd has laid out plans to buy rival Videocon Telecommunications Ltd’s entire spectrum for Rs 4,428 crore through a deal that it struck on Thursday.

The deal comes at a time when Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio is planning to launch commercial 4G services across the country as it has already got pan-India 4G spectrum and has launched services on a pilot basis for its employees.

The mega deal also came close on the heels of Idea calling off its November 2015 pact to buy Videocon’s airwaves in Gujarat and western Uttar Pradesh (UP) for Rs 3,310 crore. It is expected that the agreement with Videocon will help Airtel strengthen its footprint in 4G space ahead of the launch of Reliance Jio’s 4G wireless services later this year.

Speaking about the deal, Airtel said: “Bharti Airtel has entered into a definitive agreement with Videocon Telecommunications Ltd (VTL) to acquire at an aggregate consideration of Rs 4,428 crore, the rights to use 2x5 MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz band for six circles.”

Airtel has already launched 4G services in over 350 towns across the country. The market for 4G is heating up with telecom operators including Vodafone and Idea expanding their coverage for the high-speed service.

The global telecommunication services company, Airtel will be buying spectrum for Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, UP (East), UP (West) and Gujarat. It is likely to pay about Rs 642.06 crore as service tax for the deal to the Government.

With 325 million subscribers, Airtel is currently the largest mobile network operator in India and the third-largest in the world.