In a surprise move to Indian telecom industry it has been
reported that country’s three mobile operator – Aircel, Tata Docomo and MTS
India (SistemaShyam) are in talks to merge into single entity. Though the talks
are in early stage and three-way merger could be complicated as Govt is yet to
bring the M&A policy for Indian telecom.
As reported by Economics Times if the deal materializes, it
would be a game changer for the market as the merger entity will account for
15.5% of market share and spot itself in the 3rd position ahead of
Reliance Communications (14.4%) and Idea Cellular (14.3%). Currently Airtel
holds 21.86% and Vodafone holds 17.75% market share. However Airtel, Vodafone,
Idea and Reliance enjoys more than 80% active subscriber base, while the merger
entity can have only 65% active subscribers.
