Bharti Airtel buys 100 per cent stake in Augere Wireless Broadband India

Bharti Airtel (BAL) acquired Augere Wireless Broadband India (Augere). According to the media, the company cracked the deal around Rs 150 crore. The company signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent stake in Augere on August 26,2015. After the deal Augere will be owned subsidiary of the BAL. The company successfully added 20 MHz of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh telecom circle. Its share price on the BSE increased by 2.97 per cent on early trades and trading at Rs 346 on intraday basis.

Augere owned by France Telecom and a clutch of private equity funds such as Harbinger Capital and New Silk Route. Augere won a block of 20 MHz of 4G spectrum (2,300 MHz band) in the Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh circle for Rs 122.46 crore in the 2010 auctions. The company initially announced plans of rolling out 4G services in late 2011. But afterwards Augere decided not to go ahead with the launch, citing uncertain regulatory conditions. Augere has not invested anything beyond spectrum. The company was looking to sell its permit from very long time.

BAL rolled out its 4G services in 296 towns spread across 14 circles, marking its commercial foray into the 4G segment. After this deal, company's 4G services are now available in over 300 cities and towns. It also entered into a partnership with China Mobile, the world's largest telecom operator, to jointly source devices and equipment as well as develop 4G technology and standards. China Mobile is using TDD-LTE standard for its 4G services similar as of BAL.

BAL's consolidated Mobile Data revenues boosted by 56.9 per cent to Rs 3459 crore in Q1FY16 on yearly basis. Both 4G and 3G spectrum are critical for the next phase of growth of mobile phone operators as mobile data increasingly replaces voice as the main growth driver for them. BAL is consolidating geographical presence across the country through the deal ahead of the launch of similar high-speed broadband services by rivals such as Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm.

BAL is the third largest mobile operator in the world with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. The company's product offerings in India include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), DTH and enterprise services, including national and international long-distance services to carriers. It has over 1.85 billion customers all over the globe. BAL has a mix of 1800 Mhz and 2300 Mhz bands and holds 4G airwaves in 15 circles.