Telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced acquisition of Norwegian Telenor’s India unit.
Airtel will not make any cash payment for Telenor’s India unit but will take on Rs 1,600 crore future liability towards spectrum licence fee and mobile tower rentals.
Telenor India has 700-800 employees.
The Telenor acquisition will give Bharti Airtel additional spectrum in 1,800 MHz band besides a foothold in seven circles — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East and West) and Maharashtra — where Telenor operates in. The buyout gives Airtel additional access to 43.4 Mhz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.
In terms of subscribers, Airtel gets 52.5 million users from Telenor kitty. Currently, Airtel has 269.40 million subscribers across India.
The telecom industry is abuzz with consolidation activity since the arrival of Reliance Jio last September.