New Delhi: Reliance Jio has paid Rs 30,791 crore, including accrued interest, to the Department of Telecom to clear entire spectrum payments liabilities the company got pre-March 2021 auctions.
The payments include liabilities pertaining to the spectrum acquired in 2014, 2015, 2016 auctions and the spectrum acquired in 2021, through trading of right to use with Bharti Airtel, it said.
The company had acquired 585.3 MHz spectrum through these auctions and trading. The company estimates that the above prepayments will result in interest cost savings of around Rs 1,200 crore annually, at the current interest rates, the statement said.
Reliance Jio has opted out of options given by the government to telecom operators to avail four years of moratorium on all spectrum-related payments under the telecom reforms package announced in September 2021.
RJIL had executed the first tranche of prepayment on the anniversary date in October 2021, pertaining to spectrum acquired in auction in 2016.
Subsequent to the decision of DoT in December 2021, providing the telcos the flexibility to prepay their deferred spectrum liabilities on any date, RJIL has now prepaid in January 2022, the entire deferred liabilities acquired in 2014 and 2015 auctions as well as spectrum acquired through trading.
Meanwhile, JioFiber added 0.19 mn subscribers to become the number 1 operator in the fixed broadband segment in just about two years from commercial launch, with 4.34 mn FBB subs. Its market share improved 85bp month on month to 16.9 pc (launched commercially in Sep-19), Nomura said in a report. BSNL market share declined by 185 bp to 16.4 per cent share (vs 44 per cent pre-JioFiber launch in September’19).