The debt laden Indian telecom industry may finally be able to look forward to some good days with the announcement of Vodafone and Idea merger talks in the pipeline as the giants will look to take on Reliance Jio Infocomm heads on.
Currently, Bharti Airtel is regarded as one of the largest players in the Indian telecom league. But after Mukesh Ambani introduced Jio and its bunch of freebies, the monopoly suffered a major setback. In fact, reports confirm major losses in the profits posted by Airtel in the recent quarter.
Now with Vodafone and Idea merger confirmed, Airtel may have to toughen up for more competition. However, the merger will spell good news for the debt laden Indian telecom sector. With the big boys merging, customers can also look forward to a major boost in the user experience.
Additionally, investments in the technology sector to further strengthen the customer experience are also likely to increase.
Financial Express further elaborates that the Vodafone and Idea merger will also reduce the intensity of the competition in the Indian telecom segment will come down considerably as the battle would be restricted between three major players. The merger is further expected to hasten up consolidation of smaller players like Tata and Telenor.
Clearly the Vodafone-Idea merger will spell good news for the customers. As for the competition coming from Jio, the telecom players may need to rethink their marketing strategy to retain the loyalty of their customers. In the wake of the possibility of a merger, Jio is likely to choose to continue its freebies to get a larger share of customers on its side.
Economic Times confirms that if a merger does happen, Vodafone Idea will knock off Bharati Airtel from the top spot creating the biggest teleco of India.
Neither Vodafone nor Idea have come forth to clarify the matter. However, the two have issued their respective statements. The statements indicate that Birla Group is looking to retain 50 percent share in the deal while Vodafone may settle for 50 or less.
Till further updates, check out this comparison of services between the telecome giants of India:
