Bharti Airtel acquires of Augere Wireless

The Dollar Business Bureau

Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced it has formally acquired Augere Wireless Broadband India Pvt. Ltd. (Augere), The Netherlands-based wireless service provider holding 2,300 Mhz band spectrum in Madhya Pradesh service zone. 

"...the merger of Augere Wireless Broadband India Private Limited (Augere), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) has been completed," Bharti Airtel said in an announcement. 

Augere holds 2,300 Mhz bands of 20 Mhz spectrum in Madhya Pradesh service circle, which also includes Chhattisgarh, for 4G services. 

Augere won the spectrum deal for Rs.124.66 crore in 2010 however, but it could not launch its services. 

On August 26 last year, the Indian telecom giant had inked a definitive agreement to fully acquire an equity stake in Augere Wireless. 

The deal size is expected to be valued at Rs.150 crore. 

With its latest acquisition deal, Airtel now holds 20 Mhz in 2300 Mhz band across 17 service areas. Until December last year, Airtel’s overall spectrum holding across all bands stood at 710 Mhz. 

Airtel secured this spectrum across its four service areas for Rs.3,314.36 crore. It also acquired Qualcomm's India unit with spectrum across four circles including metros and Aircel across eight telecom circles.