India's Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers said Wednesday that they had agreed to merge in a deal that will create the world's second-largest mobile mast company.

The merged entity will boast 163,000 towers across India, behind just China Towers for the number of masts internationally, the firms announced in separate statements to Indian stock exchanges.

"The combined company will be the largest tower company in the world outside China," Bharti Infratel said.

The merged business will be called Indus Towers. Wednesday's deal values it at more than $14 billion.

Indian telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, which owns a majority stake in Infratel, will hold the largest share, ahead of Vodafone.

The merger is expected to be completed by March next year.

The deal comes as Vodafone's India operations and Idea Cellular await approval from Indian regulators for their own proposed merger.

It would see the combined firm overtake Bharti Airtel as the country's largest mobile phone carrier.

Vodafone and Idea may decide to sell their stakes in Indus Towers to fund the merger, Indian business dailies have speculated.

India telecoms operators have been rushing to merge or sell assets since Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani sparked a price war in the telecoms market with the launch of the Reliance Jio network in 2016.

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Surge in anonymous Asia Twitter accounts sparks bot fears
Hong Kong (AFP) April 22, 2018
It has been jokingly referred to as "Botmageddon". But a surge in new, anonymous Twitter accounts across swathes of Southeast and East Asia has deepened fears the region is in the throes of US-style mass social media manipulation. Maya Gilliss-Chapman, a Cambodian tech entrepreneur currently working in Silicon Valley, noticed something odd was happening in early April. Her Twitter account @MayaGC was being swamped by a daily deluge of follows from new users. "I acquired well over 1,000 new f ... read more