Airtel, Millicom complete Ghana operations deal
The Dollar Business Bureau Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd and international telecom and media company Millicom International Cellular SA on Monday announced the closing of a deal for combining their operations in Ghana. Executed through their respective arms, the deal will create the second biggest mobile operator in Ghana with around 10 million subscribers and $300 million in revenues. “The combined networks of the two companies will cover more than 80% of Ghana's population, in particular, in villages and far flung areas and serve customers with affordable world-class voice/data services, affordable global roaming and mobile banking services,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement. Both Airtel and Millicom will have equal shareholdings and rights of governance in the merged entity. In addition, both the companies ...
India Inc investment overseas surges two-fold in March
The Dollar Business Bureau India Inc has increased their overseas investments in the month of March, the data by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Tuesday. Foreign direct investment (FDI) by Indian firms in their international businesses surged more than two-fold to $2.99 billion last month. In March 2016, the companies from India had invested worth $1.42 billion in their overseas subsidiaries/joint-ventures. In March this year, the investments were much more compared to the preceding month of February, at $867.53 million, RBI data revealed. The companies’ investments came by way of equities at $1.99 billion, loans of $742.6 million and in the form of issuance of guarantee around $251.4 million. The major investors are Bharti Airtel Ltd with investment worth $765.2 million and Tata International ...
Bharti Airtel buys Tikonas 4G business for Rs.1600 cr
The Dollar Business Bureau Telecom major Bharti Airtel Ltd has acquired the 4G business of Tikona Digital Networks for Rs1,600 crore, to ramp up its capacity of a high-speed broadband spectrum to take on Vodafone-Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm in a highly competitive telecom market which is witnessing rapid consolidation. The deal, which was announced just a few days after the merger of Vodafone and Idea, will give an edge to Bharti Airtel as the largest telecommunications company in India. Through this deal Bharti can gain access to Tikona’s 4G airwaves in five states of Gujarat, UP (West), UP (East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. This will also bridge the gap between Bharti Airtel's pan-India 4G capacity and Reliance Jio and ...
Vodafone-Idea merger deal to conclude in Feb 2017
The Dollar Business Bureau Vodafone and Idea, the second and third largest telecom players in the Indian market after Airtel, have decided to combat intense competition from newcomer Reliance Jio, by merging their Indian business segment. The Birla enterprise and the British telecom giant are said to finalise a merger deal by February 2017, making the combined entity the largest telecom company in India. Vodafone has entrusted Marten Pieters, its former Chief for Indian market, with the responsibility of this ground breaking merger. The consolidation will result into a new firm that will hold a lion's share of Telecom industry's revenue. Projections estimate 40% revenue share and 380 million subscriber base for the consolidated enterprise. India Ratings and Research, a rating agency predicts a revenue of Rs.77,500-80,000 crore for the merged company. There are concerns ...
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 ...
Indias spectrum auctions to offer Rs 5.63 lakh cr worth airwaves
The Dollar Business Bureau Mobile airwaves to the tune of Rs 5.63 lakh crore are up for grabs at India’s largest spectrum auctions which began on Saturday. The airwaves, which are necessary for next generation telecom services, will be auctioned among the likes of Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel. Companies such as Tata Teleservices, Reliance Communications and Aircel will also be competing in the race to buy the spectrum. The auctions will take place between 9 am and 7 pm every day except for the first day when it starts at 10 am. The results of the bidding will be released every day at the end of the auctions. It should be noted that the 3G auctions conducted in the 2100 Mhz band ...
Kotak Mahindra aims 20% credit growth in FY 2017
Sharath Chowdary Kotak Mahindra Bank is planning to increase its number of branches to 1400 in India by the end of this fiscal year from 1333 branches as on 31 March 2016. The bank had only 684 branches in the country at the end of FY 2015. Uday Kotak-led bank also aims at a 20 percent credit growth in FY 2017, the bank’s Senior Executive Vice President and Head - Branch Banking and Acquisition, Virat Diwanji told The Dollar Business. He said, “The corporate credit offtake was slow in the recent times. The bank has registered 14-15 percent credit growth in the previous year. As interest rates are being reduced, some green shoots are coming up in the economic growth of the country. This ...
Airtel to divest 950 telecom towers in Congo
The Dollar Business Bureau Bharti Airtel Ltd. on Thursday announced a divestment of approximately 950 telecom towers to Helios Towers Africa (HTA), a leading telecom tower company in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The agreement will expand HTA’s tower coverage to over 6,500 owned towers in the African continent. The Indian telecom giant will have full access to HTA’s towers under a long term lease contract, which also includes towers currently under construction. With this deal, Airtel will strengthen its core focus on business and customers, which will help it leverage through debt reduction. The agreement will considerably lessen the company’s ongoing capital expenditure on passive infrastructure while reducing the proliferation of towers through increased sharing. “HTA is proud to be chosen ...