The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to raise a demand note asking telcos to pay for the spectrum they acquired in the recent auctions. The telecom department concluded a successful spectrum auction last month. The auction started on June 25 and concluded the next day on June 26, 2024. All the three private telecom operators in the country, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), and Reliance Jio, participated in the auctions.
The telcos had a pretty muted participation this time. Regardless, for the amount of spectrum they acquired, the government is soon going to raise a demand note so that telcos can start paying up, said a PTI report.
Read More - Tariff Hikes Could Boost Telcos EBITDA by 20-25%: Report
Bharti Airtel turned out to be the largest bidder in the auctions. A total of Rs 11,341 crore worth of spectrum was sold by the government, of which Airtel cornered 60%. Jio spent the least money as it only acquired additional spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in two circles. Vodafone Idea spent more than Jio as it had to renew expiring spectrum licenses and also get the sub-GHz band spectrum for improving coverage in several circles.
Read More - Jio, Airtel, and Vi: Advance Recharge Rules
The government will give telcos two options. Either they can pay up the full amount right away, and avoid any interest on it. Or they can pay it in equal instalments for up to 20 years. Since the amount is low this time, telcos might just pay up the full amount upfront to avoid interest payments. Airtel has been prepaying spectrum dues from the previous auctions and will likely pay up now as well. Jio's amount has been the least, under Rs 1000 crore, and can be paid by the telco comfortably.
It will be interesting to see what Vodafone Idea will do here as the telco has recently raised plenty of capital.
