27.8.15

Bharti to Acquire Augere Wireless

Bharti Airtel has agreed to acquire Augere Wireless Broadband India, as the nation's top telecom carrier looks to consolidate its 4G footprint ahead of the launch of similar high-speed broadband services by rivals such as Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Airtel didn't disclose the financial terms in a news release issued on Wednesday. Sources with knowledge of the deal put the value of Augere's airwaves at close Rs.150 crore.
“Upon acquisition, Augere will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airtel,“ the release said.
Augere had won a block of 20 MHz of 4G spectrum (the 2,300 MHz band) in the Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh circle for Rs.122.46 crore in the 2010 auctions.` The company -owned by France Telecom and a clutch of private equity funds such as Harbinger Capital and New Silk Route -initially announced plans of rolling out 4G services in late 2011.
But it then decided not to go ahead with the launch, citing uncertain regulatory conditions. It had been looking to sell its permit ever since.
The latest move will allow Airtel to expand its 4G high-speed broadband footprint ahead of the 4G launch by Reliance Jio and Vodafone, scheduled for December.Idea's launch is slated for early next year.
Sunil Mittal-controlled Airtel had bought airwaves in the 2300 MHz band in Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka in the 2010 spectrum auctions and later acquired chip-maker Qualcomm's airwaves in another four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana. It later purchased spectrum in the 1800 MHz band through auctions. Through a mix of 1800 MHz and the 2300 MHz bands, Airtel now holds 4G airwaves in 15 circles.
Immediately after the spectrum auction in 2010, Reliance Jio had acquired Infotel Broadband Services, which was the sole winner of 4G spectrum across India. Vodafone has 4G spectrum in five circles while Idea has it in 10.

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