Telecom Ministry is learnt to have cleared the Rs 3,500-crore 4G spectrum trading deal between service providers Bharti Airtel and Aircel.
“The spectrum trading deal between Bharti Airtel and Aircel was cleared by the telecom minister on July 4,” an official source told the news agency.
As on July 4, law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was in-charge of the Telecom Ministry as well.
Airtel has entered into an agreement with Aircel to acquire rights to use 4G spectrum of Aircel in eight telecom circles for Rs 3,500 crore.
Bharti Airtel declined to comment when contacted by PTI. Responding to the story, Bharti Airtel in a stock exchange filing said it has acquired rights to use 4G spectrum from Aircel in “six circles”.
Referring to its earlier intimation regarding acquisition of rights to use 20 MHz 2300 Band 4G TD spectrum from Aircel, the filing said: “We are pleased to share that the proposed transaction has successfully concluded for 6 out of 8 circles ... Following the receipt of all necessary approvals and satisfying all the conditions (including conditions stated in the Spectrum Trading Guidelines)”.
The circles are Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Assam and North East. “We shall update the stock exchanges when the transactions for the remaining circles of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa are completed,” it said in a BSE filing.
Sources said that the operator was asked to “surrender 1.2 Mhz spectrum in Odisha circle for approval as it breached the spectrum cap limit (after taking into account Aircel’s spectrum). The company has surrendered 1.2 Mhz spectrum in 1800 Mhz before the deal was cleared”.
In a circle, no player can hold more than 25 per cent of the total spectrum allocated in that particular service area.