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Airtel boss lauds govt for 'ease of doing business' in 5G spectrum allocation
A day earlier, Airtel paid ₹8,312.4 crores to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) upfront towards dues for spectrum acquired in the recently concluded 5G auction. The telecom giant paid dues for four years ahead of the schedule.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal on Thursday lauded the union government's approach for "ease of doing business", regarding the allocation of the 5G spectrum within hours of paying the requisite dues.
A day earlier, Airtel paid ₹8,312.4 crores to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) upfront towards dues for spectrum acquired in the recently concluded 5G auction. The telecom giant paid dues for four years ahead of the schedule. “Yesterday Airtel paid ₹8,312.4 crore towards spectrum dues and was provided the allocation letter for the designated frequency bands within hours. E band allocation was given along with spectrum as promised,” Sunil Mittal said in a statement, news agency ANI reported.
“No fuss, no follow-up, no running around the corridors and no tall claims. This is the ease of doing business at work in its full glory. In my over 30 years of first-hand experience with the DoT, this is a first!” he added.
"Leadership at work-right at the top and the helm of telecom. What a change! Change that can transform this nation — power its dreams to be a developed nation," the Bharti Airtel chairperson further said in the statement.
In the recently concluded 5G spectrum auction, Airtel had acquired 19,867.8 MHz frequencies by securing a pan-India footprint of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands and select purchase of radio waves in the low and mid-band spectrum for a total consideration of ₹43,040 crore.
Also Read| Airtel to launch 5G services this month, CEO spells out 2024 vision
A couple of days ago, the telecom giant announced that it will launch 5G services in August and believed that it will be able to cover every town and key rural areas of the country with 5G by March 2024.
Meanwhile, the Centre announced that it has issued spectrum allocation letters to telecom service providers while asking them to prepare for the rollout of 5G services. “5G update: Spectrum assignment letter issued. Requesting TSPs to prepare for 5G launch,” Union minister of electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
