The department of telecommunications (DoT) is likely to approve the merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular in the next few days, making the combined entity the country’s largest mobile services operator.

Sources said all the wings of the DoT as well as Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan had given a go-ahead to the merger. After signature by Communications Minister Manoj Sinha, the approval document will be sent to the companies.

Jio Double Dhamaka offer, which was introduced yesterday, June 12, is a fresh attempt by Jio to fuel the fire in the telecom sector to keep the incumbents Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, and BSNL at bay. This offer entitles the Jio customers with additional data for free along with a discount of up to Rs 100 on all the prepaid recharge packs. The company explicitly compared its new offer with what Airtel is providing at same price points. Moreover, while Jio and Airtel are in a neck and neck contest, other players such as Vodafone, Idea, and BSNL are competently vying for the best position.

British telecom major Vodafone plans to invest €1 billion or about Rs 80 billion in the proposed joint venture with Idea Cellular, which is expected to be in place this month, according to its annual report.

The British telecom operator will look at monetising its stake in Indus Towers if it requires to make additional investment in India, in case the Aditya Birla group decides to put in additional fund in the proposed merged entity, Vodafone Idea Limited.

Paving the way for the approval of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India merger, the department of telecommunications (DoT) has cleared the former's proposal to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to 100 per cent in the merged entity.

Idea currently has FDI limit of 67.5 per cent.

Idea Cellular proposes to call the new entity born of the much-talked-about merger of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India Vodafone Idea.

According to a regulatory filing, Idea Cellular has called an extraordinary general meeting on June 26 to consider proposals on a number of issues, including changing the name of the combined entity, touted to be the largest telecom operator of the country.

Close on the heels of its merger with Vodafone India, Idea Cellular on Thursday announced the completion of the sale of its standalone 9,900 towers to the Indian unit of US-based tower firm American Tower Corporation (ATC) for Rs 4,000 crore.

Earlier, Vodafone had also sold off its tower business to ATC for an enterprise value of about Rs 3,850 crore.

Idea Cellular on Monday announced the launch of VoLTE services in 9 cricles —Mumbai, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, UP (East), UP (West), Bihar & Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Following this, the company is now offering the service in 15 cricles. Earlier this month, it had launched VoLTE in Maharashtra & Goa, MP & Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, AP & Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Besides launching VoLTE, Idea is also offering its subscribers 30GB of 4G data free.

NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) may clear Idea Cellular’s proposal to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) to 100% in the company within a week, having received all necessary documentation from the Aditya Birla group company and Vodafone India, senior officials said.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given a go-ahead to the sale of Idea Cellular’s standalone telecom towers to a subsidiary of American Tower Corp (ATC).

Idea through its wholly owned subsidiary Idea Cellular Infrastructure Services (ICISL) has a portfolio of 9,900 towers with a tenancy ratio of 1.80x (September 2017). During the first half of FY18, ICISL had revenues of Rs 597 crore and an EBITDA of Rs 194 crore.

Idea has introduced a new prepaid recharge pack worth Rs 499 for its customers to up the game against the incumbents such as Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, and BSNL. The new Idea Rs 499 prepaid recharge offers the customers calling and data benefits for a validity of 82 days. The company has made this recharge pack available under the Unlimited Recharge line of tariffs across many circles.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.