Airtel-Telenor merger: Everything you need to know

The Department of Telecom ( DoT) has approved the Bharti Airtel merger with Norwegian operator Telenor.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia) said, "We welcome all Telenor customers to the Airtel family and look forward to delighting them with the best-in-class products. The acquisition consolidates our market leadership and further strengthens our network portfolio in key markets and will add to shareholder value.

With the completion of this transaction, Airtel's total mobile customer base in India now stands at over 330 million and now telco will add 5 MHz to 7.2 MHz of Telenor's spectrum (1800 band) in each of the seven circles.

The addition of this fresh spectrum (total of 43.4 MHz) will enable Airtel to further expand network capacity across these markets and fortify its network leadership.

"I welcome today's closing of the transaction. We are pleased with our agreement with Airtel and finding a long-term solution to our India business has been a priority for us. I would like to thank the Telenor India team for their relentless and unwavering efforts over the years. To our customers, I would like to thank you for your loyalty and trust in our services," says Sigve Brekke, Chief Executive Officer of Telenor Group.

The telecom major said that all existing customers of Telenor India will now become a part of India's largest mobile network and will enjoy world-class services - high-speed data, voice, and content at affordable prices.

All the customers will be transitioned seamlessly to the Airtel network and will continue to enjoy uninterrupted services with the Same SIM, Same Number, and Same Plan/Pack benefits. For any queries and further assistance, customers can call 121 or write to [email protected], Airtel further said.

According to the agreement between the two companies, Airtel will absorb all employees of Telenor India. For now, Airtel has on-boarded 700 employees from Telenor and the plan for the remaining employees are said to be communicated in due course.

Detel D1 Dezire First Impressions

The transaction has received all regulatory and statutory approvals and as a next step, Airtel will begin integrating Telenor India's operations across seven circles - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam