Airtel ready for pan-india presence; acquires 4G spectrum of Tikona

Buckling for the big telecom fight, Bharti Airtel has acquired the 4G business of Tikona Networks on March 24, 2017. The agreement included the acquisition of the broadband spectrum, as well as Tikona's 350 sites across 5 circles for a price of Rs 1,600 crore.

At present, Tikona operates with 20 MHz spectrum in the 2,300 MHz band in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East and west), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Thus the deal culminated with Airtel possessing 30MHz in 2300 MHz band in 13 circles, formulated to tackle the surging demand for data.

The acquisition will enable Airtel to have an immensely strong presence in 2300 MHz band across India, with the Rajasthan circle operating under Bharti Hexacom. Moreover, amalgamation of the TD-LTE 2300 MHz and FD-LTE 1800 MHz will further strengthen the network to the customers' advantage.

Airtel is most likely to roll out the high speed 4G services on the acquired spectrums in the five circles immediately, post the completion of the acquisition agreement.