Airtel sees no “great need” for more spectrum

Bharti Airtel’s CEO Gopal Vittal has suggested that the operator’s participation in India’s upcoming massive spectrum auction may be limited.

Vittal told attendees to an earnings call that the operator is “in a very solid position” with its current specturum holding, and does not “see great need of spectrum” at this point in time.

Vittal did note that the operator needs some spectrum to “fill a few gaps here and there.” But Airtel has historically been one of the major bidders in previous allocations, and his comments suggest that this is unlikely to be the case with the upcoming auction.

The government has announced plans to auction off more than 2,300 MHz of airwaves across seven frequency bands, ranging from 700-MHz to 2,500-MHz, and recently approved the reserve prices for the bands.

Based on the reserve prices the government expects to raise up to $83 billion, but analysts expect bidding to fall far below these lofty expectations.

At least one operator has already decided not to take part due to the proposed prices, with Norway’s Telenor revealing plans to sit out as it evaluates whether to remain in the market.