Airtel completes acquisition of 4G airwaves in Orissa

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has completed the acquisition of Maxis controlled Aircels’ 4G airwaves in the Orissa circle as well.

With the announcement, Airtel now has completed the deal for acquiring airwaves from Aircel in seven of the total eight circles it had announced in April.

The circles where the deal has been completed are Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Bihar, J&K, West Bengal, Assam, North East and Odisha. Only the circle of Andhra Pradesh is now left.

Airtel had announced it would buy Aircel's 4G spectrum in eight circles for Rs 3,500 crore through a trading deal, which would make India's No. 1 phone company a pan-India 4G player right ahead of Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Jio’s launch.

The deal was expected to help Aircel pare its debt and fulfil one of the conditions for its merger with Reliance Communications. Aircel needed to reduce close to Rs 4,000 crore of its Rs 18,000-crore debt.

The 4G airwaves are valid till September 20, 2030.

India's largest telecom company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange, “We are pleased to submit that the proposed transaction has been successfully concluded for Orissa circle following the receipt of all necessary approvals and satisfying all the conditions stated in the spectrum trading guidelines.”