Consolidation natural in telecom industry: DoT

With new developments unfolding on the proposed Hutchison Essar sale stake each day, D Mathur, Telecom Secretary, today said consolidation is a natural phenomena in a scenario where there are large number of players.

"The number of operators in the country are comparatively larger than those in the other parts of the world, so I think it (merger and acquisitions) is a natural phenomena," Mathur said on the sidelines of a COAI function.

Hutchison is being wooed by several suitors like British mobile major Vodafone, Reliance Communications (Rel Comm) and the current joint venture partner Essar, for its 67% stake in Hutch Essar.

On being asked whether the Department of Telecom (DoT) sees any regulatory lapses on the proposed deal, he said: "We do not know the details of the deal and how they are going to go about the business.We are waiting for the matter to crystalise only then we take a view."

He said officials from Vodafone and Anil Ambani, chairman, Rel Comm had met him but they were more interested in details relating to foreign direct investment and as such the Hutch Essar issue was not discussed.