Airtel submits early payment for 2014 spectrum purchases

Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel has paid INR155.19 billion (USD2.04 billion) to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) towards its liabilities for spectrum it acquired in 2014. The operator notes it purchased a combined total of 128.4MHz of spectrum for a consideration of INR190.51 billion in the 2014 frequency auction – including the airwaves purchased by Telenor India, which was acquired by Airtel in 2018. Explaining the decision for the early payment, the operator noted in a statement to the local bourse that the liabilities were due in annual instalments from the 2026/27 financial year to 2031/32 with an interest rate of 10%, and that the prepayment will result in estimated interest cost savings of around INR34 billion.