abhay 0 Report post Posted May 9, 2006 (edited) Idea, Spice, Aircel ally to take on biggies Idea Cellular, Spice Telecom and Aircel are forming an alliance to compete with national telecom players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications Ventures. As part of the first-of-its-kind agreement, the three telcos, none of which has a pan-India presence, will also collectively apply for ILD and NLD licenses. The move is intended to enable these largely regional players to compete with larger players like Bharti and Reliance. All the three GSM operators are offering services in different circles and their current operations don’t overlap in any area. Their combined subscriber base will be around 13m, just behind Hutchison Essar, which had 16m mobile users at the end of April ‘06. According to industry sources, the telcos are likely to announce the alliance in July. The boards of Idea, Spice as well as Aircel will have to be reconstituted. While the Tatas are in the process of transferring their shares in Idea to the Birlas, the other two telcos have received investment from Malaysian firms. “The alliance will be announced after the new board of directors in all the companies are in place. Later, the companies will apply for NLD and ILD licenses under one banner to become an integrated telecom player,” said sources. As per the proposed alliance, calls made by an Idea customer to any Aircel or Spice user will be treated as Idea-to-Idea call. This will not only result in reduced tariffs for customers, it’ll also benefit users on roaming. It’s not clear if the companies will eventually merge. If they were to do the combined entity will have a national footprint. The modalities of how the companies will collectively apply for licenses is also not yet clear. It is possible that one of the three will apply for a license, and then will enter into a strategic alliance to extend benefits to subscribers of the other two. “A Spice customer in an Idea circle will be treated as an Idea subscriber. This will also mean lower tariffs while roaming. Moreover, they will be able to approach any Idea outlet in the circle for assistance or recharge facilities,” said sources. Idea currently offers services in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Goa, Kerala, Haryana and UP (West). It also has licenses to operate in UP (East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Spice is present in Karnataka and Punjab circles while Aircel has operations in Tamil Nadu and Chennai circles, Assam, North East, Orissa, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. It has licences for 12 of the 23 circles and has applied for licences in Kerala, Kolkata, Punjab and Haryana. Analysts said that with the mergers and acquisitions wave in the Indian telecom sector being largely over, it is now time for consolidation through strategic tie-ups. “The proposed alliance will allow the trio to compete effectively in the market, largely dominated by big players. Further, they will be able to focus on untapped areas in the existing circles rather than becoming marginal players in new circles,” said an analyst. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1523249.cms first of a kind never heard three companies on the verge of merge'ing! Edited May 9, 2006 by abhay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FEVIN-RAJ 61 Report post Posted May 10, 2006 Lets see wat happens and how long will run ............ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thinkpositive 0 Report post Posted May 12, 2006 lets know what the name will be ???? idea or aircel or spice or IAS MOBILE ?????? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
