Bharti Airtel signs definitive agreement to buy Telenor India

Bharti Airtel has signed a definitive agreement with Telenor South Asia Investments Pte Limited to acquire Telenor India. Under the agreement, Bharti Airtel and Telenor India will merge and Airtel will take over Telenor India’s running operations in seven telecom circles – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and Assam. Further, Airtel will take over Telenor’s outstanding spectrum payments and other operational contracts, including tower leases, as soon as all the necessary approvals are received. The proposed acquisition will include the transfer of Telenor India’s assets and customers, which will help in augmenting Airtel’s overall customer base and network. It will also enable Airtel to enhance its spectrum footprint in the seven circles, by adding 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.