Airtel acquires Telenor India as consolidation wave grips Indian telecom

Reliance Jio’s entry on Indian telecom landscape has changed the industry forever. While on the one hand, there have been raining deals and offers for customers, on the other, a wave of consolidation can be seen gripping the industry as well.

Though Vodafone-Idea merger is still in discussion phase, Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has entered a definitive agreement with Telenor to acquire its Indian assets i.e. Telenor India. The telco has operations in seven circles - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam.

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed but Airtel said that the acquisition will boost its spectrum footprint with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.

“The proposed acquisition will include transfer of all of Telenor India’s assets and customers, further augmenting Airtel’s overall customer base and network. It will also enable Airtel to further bolster its strong spectrum footprint in these seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band,” the company said in a statement.

The deal gets Airtel another 52.5 million subscribers. The telco currently has 269.40 million subscribers across India. Signalling its intention to exit India, Telenor had marked down the value of its local business by Rs. 5,000 crore in 2016, and it did not participate in the October spectrum auctions.

Sigve Brekke, chief executive of Telenor Group, said the decision to exit India has not been taken lightly.
“After thorough consideration, it is our view that the significant investments needed to secure Telenor India’s future business on a standalone basis will not give an acceptable level of return,” Brekke said.