Airtel eyes buyouts

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 22

The Vodafone-Idea merger has sent ripples across the country’s telecom sector with other players also looking to consolidate their positions with more mergers and acquisitions.

As per reports, Airtel is looking to bring together other small operators and internet service providers.

Reports said Airtel was in the final stages of discussions with Tikona Digital Networks to buy the latter’s 4G spectrum for Rs 800-1,000 crore.

Tikona has some debt on its books which Airtel will assume, increasing the overall deal value to Rs 1,500-1,700 crore, the reports said, adding that the deal would be split into multiple tranches.

Already in a war of words with Reliance Jio over the claims of being the fastest 4G network in the country, the deal with Tikona would help Airtel further slash its prices and give intense competition to the former.