Vodafone Group confirmed it was in merger talks with Idea Cellular's parent company.
If the merger of Vodafone Group's India operations and Aditya Birla-promoted Idea Cellular comes through, it would create a behemoth with nearly 40 crore subscribers.
The merged entity could be a fitting answer to the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio whose entry has shaken up the telecom sector, forcing it into consolidation mode.
Vodafone Group, in a press release on Monday, confirmed the merger talks with Idea Cellular, putting an end to speculation.
However, the company maintained that there was no guarantee yet whether the transaction would be agreed and didn't offer a timeline to the merger transaction.
According to subscriber data from the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), Vodafone India had 20.46 crore subscribers as of December 2016 (20,46,86,924 users), accounting for 25.27% market share while Idea Cellular had 19.05 crore subscribers as of December 2016 (19,05,17,876 users), a 23.52% market share.
The COAI is a non-governmental association of major telcos in the country, with members like Vodafone India, Airtel India, Aircel, Idea Cellular, and Reliance Jio is its newest member.
Image Source: Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
If the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular comes through, it could create a behemoth with nearly 40 crore subscribers (39,52,04,800 subscribers to be precise), grabbing nearly 50% of the market and dethrone Bharti Airtel from the top.
| Company |
Subscribers (as of December 2016) |
Market share |
| Vodafone India |
20,46,86,924 crore |
25.27% |
| Idea Cellular |
19,05,17,876 |
23.52% |
| Vodafone India - Idea Cellular merged entity |
39,52,04,800 crore |
nearly 50% |
According to data from Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
As of December 2016, Bharti Airtel was the number one telecom company in the country (in terms of subscriber base), with a subscriber base of 26.58 crore (26,58,52,605 users) with a market share of 32.82%.
Image Source: Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
The Indian telecom market has been thrown into a frenzy with the entry of Reliance Jio, forcing the telcos to cut their tariff plans and reevaluate their India plans and strategy to stay relevant. According to an Economic Times report, Relianec Jio had 7.2 crore in subscriber count in only about 5 months of its formal launch on September 5.
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