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Nachiket Kelkar
Nachiket Kelkar

DATA WAR

Airtel to acquire Tikona's 4G business for Rs 1,600 crore

free-basics-airtel (File) Representative image

Last month, Bharti Airtel had also announced the acquisition of Norwegian telecom company Telenor's Indian assets

  • Tikona holds a pan-India category A internet service provider license. It provides wireless broadband services to retail and small and medium enterprises, while also offering fixed broadband services using 4G spectrum

In a bid to further strengthen its 4G network amid surging data demand, Bharti Airtel, currently India's largest telecom operator, will acquire internet service provider Tikona Digital Network's 4G business, including the BWA (broadband wireless access) spectrum in the 2,300 mega hertz band in five circles for Rs 1,600 crore.

"Tikona currently has 20 MHz spectrum in the 2,300 MHz band in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh circles. Airtel plans to rollout high-speed 4G services on the newly acquired spectrum in the five circles immediately after the closure of the transaction," it said on Thursday.

While the acquisition of the 4G business in Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Himachal Pradesh will be done by Bharti Airtel, the acquisition in Rajasthan will be through its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom.

Tikona's wireless broadband business will continue to be held by Tikona's shareholders, it added.

Tikona holds a pan-India category A internet service provider license. It provides wireless broadband services to retail and small and medium enterprises, while also offering fixed broadband services using 4G spectrum. In June 2010, Tikona was also allotted BWA spectrum through the auction route in Rajasthan, Gujarat, UP East and West and Himachal Pradesh.

This acquisition by Airtel comes just three days after Vodafone and Idea, India's second and third largest telecom companies announced a plan to merge their operations, which would make the merged entity the largest telco in the country, ahead of Airtel.

Last month, Bharti Airtel had also announced the acquisition of Norwegian telecom company Telenor's Indian assets, to strengthen its network in the 1,800 MHz band.

Ever since Reliance Industries rolled out its 4G VOLTE services in September last year, incumbent telecom operators have been looking to strengthen their own networks and fill the gaps in networks and reach.

The acquisition from Tikona will enable Airtel to fill BWA spectrum gaps in the 2,300 MHz band in Rajasthan, UP (East) and UP (West), thereby securing a pan-India footprint in the band. The deal will also "significantly bolster" Airtel’s spectrum position in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, taking its overall BWA spectrum holding to 30 MHz each in these circles, it said.

"Airtel’s continued focus on strengthening its 4G capabilities across multiple spectrum bands will be complemented with the BWA spectrum acquisition from Tikona. We believe that combining our capacities will further bolster our network, and help us provide unmatched high-speed wireless broadband experience to our customers," said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel.

On the promise of free voice calls for life and free data till March 31, Reliance Jio racked up 100 million subscribers in just 170 days. Bharti Airtel will have around 320 million subscribers, including those from Telenor acquisition and the merged Vodafone-Idea entity will have almost 400 million subscribers.

Bharti Airtel shares closed at Rs 338.40 on the BSE on Thursday, almost unchanged from previous close.

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Topics : #Airtel

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