Bharti Airtel has sought compensation from the Indian telecom ministry – headed by Ravi Shankar Prasad – for delay in the release of 1800 MHz spectrum in Delhi and Kolkata.

Though Airtel won spectrum license auction in February 2014, it is yet to receive the airwaves, badly impacting its future plans.

The delay in release of spectrum is impacting India’s #1 telecom operator’s spectrum refarming plan, said a telecom news report in Economic Times.

In a letter to the BJP Government – headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharti Airtel said the company should be compensated in the form of bank interests for the advance money of Rs 5,525 crore and bank guarantee of Rs 2,542 crore.

The Sunil Mittal promoted Bharti Airtel, which competes with Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, etc. says the company would take at least 6-12 months to migrate spectrum to 1800 MHz from 900 MHz in Mumbai and Kolkata circles. It needs the spectrum urgently to ensure smooth refarming.

During the February 2014 spectrum auction, Bharti Airtel bagged spectrum worth Rs 18,500 crore. The company won 1800 MHz spectrum in 15 telecom circles and 900 MHz in 3 regions.

The company has also sought 900 MHz spectrum for Mumbai metro circle in order to deploy mobile network.

Baburajan K
[email protected]