Bharti Airtel is expected to increase its sub-GHz airwave holdings in the prized 900 MHz band in a dozen circles and emerge as the top spectrum buyer among the three telcos in the next auction, despite Reliance Jio making the highest earnest money deposit (EMD), analysts said.

 

This, they claimed, is mostly because the Sunil Mittal-led telco behind market leader Jio in critical sub-GHz spectrum holdings and is expected to expand its low-band airwaves arsenal in the forthcoming sale, which begins June 6, to improve rural mobile broadband coverage.

 

According to the most recent telco spectrum data compiled by Axis Capital, Airtel's sub-GHz spectrum holdings in the 800 and 900 MHz bands are much smaller at 176 MHz than Jio's at 445 MHz. Jio's sub-GHz spectrum holdings are higher than those of Airtel and Vi since it is the only telco owning 700 MHz airwaves across India in addition to 800 MHz national spectrum. Vodafone Idea's (Vi) sub-GHz spectrum holdings (900 MHz band alone) are at 141.2 MHz.

 

 Gopal Vittal, the managing director of Airtel, stated earlier this month that the telecom firm will keep its attention on building out its 4G network in rural India by adding an additional 25,000 sites over the course of the next several quarters.

 

“Despite Jio having posted the highest EMD, Airtel may be the biggest spender in the 2024 spectrum auction as its recent rural thrust and improved balance sheet have strengthened the case for more 900 MHz spectrum buys in 12 circles, especially considering the significantly higher low-frequency spectrum holdings for Jio,” IIFL said in a research note seen by ET.