RCom, Aircel in Talks to Merge India Wireless Business
BANGALORE: Billionaire Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications (RCom) said that it has entered into merger talks with Aircel's domestic wireless business. Aircel is India's fifth largest mobile carrier with pan-India operations.
The discussions, which are "non-binding" in nature, will exclude RCom's towers and optical fibre infrastructure, the company said.
Market expert Sudip Bandyopadhyay told NDTV Profit that a potential deal with Aircel will help RCom consolidate its market position.
"RCom will emerge as a much stronger company to invest in... It will negotiate from a position of strength," he added.
Talks with Aircel comes weeks after RCom's 
1,500-crore deal with Russian conglomerate Sistema through which India's fourth largest operator acquired all Sistema's India mobile phone business.
The stock-swap deal was the first major deal in the domestic telecom industry, which is witnessing consolidations ahead of Reliance Jio's launch of country-wide 4G services.
Earlier this month, Bharti Airtel said it will invest Rs 60,000 crore over three years to improve voice and data services. Last month, Idea Cellular agreed to buy Videocon Telecom's spectrum in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West) circles for 3,310 crore.
At 1:06 p.m., RCom shares were trading 1.43 per cent higher at 84.90 as compared to a flat broader market.
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