Merger of Tata Tele mobile service biz with Airtel approved
TECHNOLOGY | January 30, 2020:
The Department of Telecom is set to issue an approval letter for the merger of Tata Teleservices' consumer mobile business with Airtel next week while deciding not to pursue the case in the Supreme Court after the court declined to stay telecom tribunal TDSAT order that had cleared the deal with some payment.
"We will issue them (Airtel) the approval letter in February, official sources said.
Once the deal approval communication comes from the government, Airtel will get an additional 178.5 MHz spectrum in three crucial bands of "1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 850 MHz" that are widely used for 4G network.
Not just that, the customers of Tata Teleservices will be on Airtel network and gain access to all tariff plans and other content services of Sunil Mittal's company.
Accordingly, while Airtel had paid the required amount and announced the completion of the merger in July, DoT did not give a formal approval.
As part of the agreement signed between Airtel and the Tata Group company in October 2017, Airtel was to absorb the telco's consumer mobile operations in 19 circles — 17 under Tata Teleservices and two under Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) — and also to take over a small portion of the unpaid spectrum liability of Tata Teleservices.
IANS