Bharti Airtel board to mull fund raising plans

Last week, Bharti Airtel announced that its network is 5G ready now as the company successfully demonstrated live fifth-generation service

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel’s board, slated to meet on Wednesday, will consider financing strategies and fundraising plans via instruments like debentures, bonds, and loans, as the telecom sector gears up for spectrum auctions and roll-out of new-age technologies. The telco is also scheduled to announce its third-quarter results on Wednesday.

“Board of Directors, in its meeting scheduled on Wednesday, February 03, 2021, shall also consider routine financing/ refinancing strategies and any consequent raising of capital through various instruments, including debentures, bonds, loans etc. either denominated in Indian rupees or foreign currency and of suitable tenor and characteristics, subject to applicable regulatory/ statutory approvals,” the company had said in a recent filing.

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Last week, Bharti Airtel announced that its network is 5G ready now as the company successfully demonstrated live fifth-generation service — with ultra-high speeds — over a commercial network in Hyderabad city.

The move assumes significance as telecom operators are preparing to leverage 5G as the next frontier for future growth to bolster revenue streams and provide a stronger customer experience. Airtel had emphasised that the actual impact of the 5G experience will be available to customers “when the adequate spectrum is available, and government approvals are received.”

Airtel’s fundraising plan comes when the government has set the ball rolling for the spectrum auction, in which radio waves valued at Rs 3.92 lakh crore will be put on the block. The auction in seven spectrum bands for mobile services – 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 and 2500MHz bands – is scheduled to start from March 1.

Experts tracking the sector have forecast “limited participation,” though. Some believe that spectrum auction in India has turned into a buyer’s market and may see “minimal competition” with operators going after airwaves that yield the best value for money instead of focusing on renewing all expiring spectrum.