Airtel, Jio conclude spectrum trading agreement

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Friday announced the closure of its agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to transfer the 'Right to Use' of Airtel's 800 MHz spectrum in three circles to the Mukesh Ambani-led firm.

Airtel said in a statement it has received Rs 1,004.8 crore (net of tax) from Jio for the proposed transfer.       

Besides this, Jio will assume future liabilities of Rs 469.3 crore relating to the spectrum, the statement added.       

Bharti Airtel's deal with Reliance Jio Infocomm involves the transfer of the 'Right to Use' of Airtel's 800 MHz spectrum in Andhra Pradesh (3.75 MHz), Delhi (1.25 MHz) and Mumbai (2.50 MHz) circles to Jio, the company had



earlier said.

 Jio's pact with Airtel to buy the spectrum in 800 MHz band was announced in April this year and marked the first such deal between the two telecom giants.

Airwaves come in different bands which support different propagation characteristics for the transmission of voice and data. For instance, lower bands like 800 MHz and 900 MHz support good indoor coverage while higher bands like 2300 MHz have a good carrying capacity. 

The airwaves are also sold in quantities measured as MHz. Spectrum auctions, held earlier this year, had raked in winning bids of over Rs 77,800 crore for 855.6 MHz of spectrum.