Airtel To Buy Augere (Qubee)

Bharti Airtel, one of the largest and well known telcom companies of India, is in process of acquiring Augere Wireless Broadband India. Augere has operations in Bangladesh and Pakistan as well under the brand name of Qubee and in 2010 Augere had outbid several big telecoms to acquire 4G spectrum for INR 122.46 crores.

According to details, the deal is close to being finalized and regulatory approval is awaited. Augere, despite having 4G spectrum with 20 years license, was unable to roll out services citing uncertain regulatory conditions and had been looking to sell its permit. Several telecom companies, including Airtel, were busy strengthening and expanding their 4G networks.

It is speculated that deal would amount to INR 150 crores, though neither Airtel nor Augere have commented about it. The 4G spectrum will help Airtel improve its service offerings by utilizing additional spectrum bandwidth in 2300 MHz in Madhya Pardes- Chattisgarh.

It is not the first acquisition by Airtel either. Previously the telecom giant had acquired 4G permit from Qualcomm in 2013 that included areas like Dehli and Mumbai and has been actively expanding its network with 4G offerings.

It is yet to be seen what impact this deal will have on Augere’s services in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The acquisition may help the company improve its services in Pakistan, by improving existing infrastructure and expansion of network to include more areas of the country.

Khurram Zahid