Vodafone mulls India merger
Group’s Indian unit in tie-up talks with Idea Cellular and weighing options on excess airwaves in the country
Mumbai — A merger under discussion between Vodafone Group’s India unit and Idea Cellular would create a new leader in one of the world’s most competitive mobile-phone markets. For rivals, there is a silver lining: bandwidth on the cheap. That is because a transaction may compel the carriers to shed some spectrum and subscribers to ensure regulatory approval under India’s competition rules. Vodafone and Idea are weighing options on excess airwaves, including selling or sharing them, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Spectrum worth more than 60-billion rupees ($890m) could be at stake, according to Credit Suisse analysts. The two carriers would probably sell the spectrum at a lower price than originally purchased, Sunil Tirumalai and Viral Shah wrote in a February 1 note. Such disposals could make it more difficult for Idea and Vodafone to take advantage of their combined scale because India is divided into ...
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