Bharti Airtel to buy Telenor’s India unit

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel, India´s largest telecoms network operator, is buying Norwegian Telenor´s India unit, in yet another consolidation move in the South Asian nation´s telecoms sector driven by upstart rival Jio´s disruptive pricing.

Bharti Airtel said on Thursday it will buy Telenor (India) Communications Pvt Ltd, as part of which it will acquire the Norwegian company´s operations in six Indian states.

It did not disclose financial terms of the deal. The entry late last year of Reliance Industries´ wireless carrier Jio into India´s crowded telecoms sector with its free voice and deeply discounted data plans has pushed rivals to slash costs, sharply eroding their profits.  Bharti Airtel reported its lowest profit in four years in the October-December quarter while No. 3 player Idea Cellular posted its first-ever quarterly loss for the same period.