Airtel seems to be on an expanding spree. Sources do say they are taking an aggressive stance and want to be the biggest mobile operator in all the metro cities of India. Airtel is in talks with Loop Mobile in Mumbai for a merger. If the
deal goes through they will add over 3 million subscribers to their existing database of 4 million and increase the reach to 7 million.
The real figures of the deal are not clear, but industry specialists are putting a number of Rs 700 crore on it. For the ailing
Loop mobiles, this will be a sweet deal to grab. Currently
Vodafone has the maximum number of subscribers in Mumbai. After Loop and Airtel join hands, the later will become the biggest telecom operator in Mumbai.
Airtel and Vodafone have been increasing their subscriber base rapidly and leaving the rest of the pack behind quickly. The next step in the evolution cycle, which is acquisition of smaller players such as Loop Mobiles made perfect sense. However, with the acquisition Airtel needs to improve 3G and voice services in sectors such as Delh/NCR and Mumbai, which have not been at their best lately.
