Bharti Airtel has acquired Telenor's India operations, which earlier used to function under the brand name Uninor. As part of the agreement, Airtel will acquire Telenor India’s running operations in seven circles -- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam. These circles represent a high population concentration and therefore, offer a high potential for growth.
The proposed acquisition will include transfer of all of Telenor India’s assets and customers, further augmenting Airtel’s overall customer base and network. It will also enable Airtel to further bolster its strong spectrum foot-print in these seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800-MHz band.
The acquisition of additional spectrum through this transaction, makes for attractive business proposition for Bharti Airtel, and will significantly enhance its already solid spectrum portfolio.
Telenor is Norway's largest telecom company and was earlier in a joint venture with Unitech. The company has been considering shutting down its India operations for a long time because of slow growth in customer numbers.
