Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement to acquire Tikona Digital Networks’ 4G business for $244 million.
The acquisition will allow Bharti Airtel to increase its spectrum holding across India.
Tikona holds 20 megahertz of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band in five telecom circles: Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (UP) East, UP West, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh. It owns 350 sites, and offers fixed-wireless broadband services in these circles.
The spectrum in UP East, UP West and Rajasthan circles will enable Bharti Airtel to complete its pan-India 2.3 GHz footprint.
“Airtel’s continued focus on strengthening its 4G capabilities across multiple spectrum bands will be complemented with the spectrum acquisition from Tikona,” said Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel’s India and South Asia business.
The Indian telco said that the acquisition is still subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to close within the next two months.
Once the acquisition is fully completed, Bharti Airtel will hold a total of 30 megahertz of 2.3-GHz spectrum in 13 circles across the country.
Last month, Bharti Airtel agreed to acquire full control of Telenor’s Indian operation.
Under terms of the deal, Airtel, which currently counts more than 269 million customers, will take over Telenor India’s spectrum, licenses and operations, including its employees and customer base of around 44 million connections.
Telenor currently offers service across the circles of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujurat, Uttar Pradesh East, and UP West. It also owns spectrum in Assam. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals from the Department of Telecommunications and the Competition Commission of India, but is expected to close within 12 months.
StartHub inaugurates innovation center for Smart Nation projects in Singapore
In other APAC news, Singapore operator StarHub has recently announced the opening of its 58,000-square-foot innovation center and converged operations cockpit named Hubtricity.
The new facility acts as a foundation to accelerate service innovation and co-creation with partners and customers.
The telco also said that the new facility will help transform Singapore into a connected Smart Nation.
The centerpiece at Hubtricity is the converged command cockpit, where StarHub can monitor how its fixed, mobile and pay TV networks and services are performing and understand how customers are using and responding to its service offerings through call-center metrics and social media analytics.
“Hubtricity not only showcases our extensive connectivity and deep competency in data analytics and cyber security, but is also a co-working space for partners and start-up companies to create solutions for a Smart Nation,” Tan Tong Hai, Chief Executive Officer of StarHub, said.
“Currently, we are working with both local and global partners to build platforms, such as smart home, intelligent vehicles, connected buildings, virtual reality and smart retail, to meet the future needs of our customers.”
