DoT to issue payment demands to telcos for recent spectrum purchases

The telecom department is expected to issue a demand note to telcos this week for payment of spectrum they bought in the just-concluded auction, according to a source.

The auction — lasted for two days spanning seven rounds this time around – witnessed the sale of 141.4 MHz of radio waves for Rs 11,340.78 crore.

In all, 10,500 MHz of radiowaves used for mobile services worth over Rs 96,238 crore were placed on the block during the auction started on June 25.

Sunil Mittal’s Airtel emerged as the biggest bidder for radio waves, cornering about 60 per cent of the Rs 11,341 crore worth of spectrum sold in this auction.

Airtel bid and won airwaves worth Rs 6,856.76 crore, and rival Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio – the market leader – got Rs 973.62 crore worth of spectrum – the least in the three-way contest.

Vodafone Idea’s (VIL) bid for spectrum was valued at about Rs 3510.4 crore.

As per sources, the demand note would outline both options – upfront payment or payment via instalments and is expected to be sent out early this week to various telecom companies.

As per the terms of the bid document, the payments have to be made within ten days of the issue of the demand note. PTI