Bharti Airtel, which earlier this year took Norwegian telco Telenor for virtually free, has now acquired Tata Teleservices -- again, for almost free -- taking consolidation in the stressed telecom sector to a new level.
The cash-free debt-free deal, which will bring in over 71 MHz of liberalised spectrum and add 40 million customers to the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company at a throwaway price, will also mean that the $103-billion Tata group won’t have to shut down its telecom business and worry about thousands of job losses. In its 149-year-old history, the Tatas have never shut down any major unit,