Bharti Airtel is going to acquire 5G spectrum from Adani Enterprise. The telecom major stated that the company is going to acquire the rights to 400 MHz spectrum from Adani Data Networks, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprise. This includes 100 GHz in Gujarat and Mumbai and 50 MHz in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
Adani Enterprise bought the 400 MHz spectrum in the 26 GHz band in August 2022 at the cost of Rs 212 crores. At the time, the company said that it would use the spectrum for private network use. However, after about 2.5 years after the purchase, the company hadn’t used the spectrum.
Bharti Airtel has not yet disclosed the amount of the transaction.
In the past two years, the Department of Telecommunications has sent multiple show cause notices to Adani Enterprises for not utilising the spectrum. The company had been in limbo for the past couple of years over how to utilise the spectrum. The company initially planned to utilise the spectrum in its operation on airports, ports, logistics and power generation.
As per the rule of the Department of Telecommunications, Adani Enterprise could have been penalised for not using the spectrum. As per the auction rules, the buyers/telecom operators must start the commercial services within a period of one year from the date of the spectrum auction. If a company fails to comply with the rules, it could be penalised Rs 1 lakh per week and Rs 2 lakh per week for the first 13 weeks and the later period, respectively.