Last week, Bharti Airtel’s subsidiary Bharti Infratel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular said they would merge their wireless-infrastructure businesses to cut costs and improve efficiencies. Vodafone Essar and Bharti will each own 42% of the new company that results--Indus Towers--and Idea will get 16%.
The companies all operate on the global system for mobile communications standard. They will merge their infrastructure assets, totaling 70,000 towers, in 16 of the 22 demarcated telecommunication zones. Media reports said Indus Towers would fund expansion through debt and could venture a public offering two years on.
Other facts about the Indian market from the article are:
India’s mobile market added nearly 8 million subscribers in October, the largest gain in the world, along with China. But intense competition has ensured tariffs are as low as 2 cents a minute.
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... as record subscriber growth overcrowds the airwaves, Indian telecom players are now engaged in a legal battle over precious spectrum allotments from the government.
