City
Epaper

Airtel-Tikona merger: SC orders status quo on DoT's demand

By IANS | Updated: July 8, 2019 19:25 IST

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered status quo, for 15 days, on the Department of Telecom's (DoT) demand of Rs 1,626.89 crore for permitting the merger of Bharati Airtel with Tikona Wireless.

Open in App

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra asked both parties to move the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) for hearing the review petition.

"Go to TDSAT. We are not giving any opinion on the merits," the court said during the hearing of the matter.

Last week, the apex court agreed to hear the DoT's plea challenging the TDSAT order, staying its demand of Rs 1,626.89 crore from Bharti Airtel Ltd, on July 8.

The TDSAT order directed the authorities concerned (Centre) to take the merger of two companies and licence on record, and "subject to the final result of this petition, and this interim, shall govern the parties till it is vacated or modified after considering any further or new material, which maybe brought on record on behalf of the respondent".

The TDSAT had looked into Bharti Airtel's plea challenging the stand of DoT, demanding the sum for completion of the amalgamation of Bharti Digital Networks Pvt Ltd, formerly known as Tikona Digital Networks Pvt Ltd, with itself. The amalgamation was recently completed, said Bharti Airtel.

DoT had reportedly asked Airtel to pay Rs 185.62 crore in cash.

In March 2017, Airtel had come out with its decision to acquire the 4G business of Tikona Networks, which comprised of broadband spectrum and 350 sites across five telecom circles, and was estimated at about Rs 1,600 crore.

Tikona had second largest ecosystem of 4G devices in telecom circles in eastern and western UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. It had 20 MHz spectrum in the 2,300 MHz band.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: AirtelBharti AirtelTikona NetworksArun Mishra
Open in App

Related Stories

BusinessAirtel and Bajaj Finance Team Up To Launch Major Digital Platform for Financial Services

TechnologyAirtel Down: Mobile and Broadband Services Face Outage; Users Express Frustration on Social Media

NationalBharti Airtel's AI-Powered System Blocks 154 Million Spam Calls and 8 Million Spam SMS in West Bengal

TechnologyAirtel's AI-Powered Solution Detects 51 Million Spam Calls, 1.6 Million SMSes in Rajasthan

TechnologyJio, Airtel, Vodafone Hike Recharge Prices: Users Flock to Cheaper Alternatives

कारोबार Realted Stories

BusinessNetflix's India investments generated over USD 2 billion in economic impact post-COVID: Co-CEO Ted Sarandos

BusinessWAVES 2025: First-ever White Paper on India’s live events economy unveiled

BusinessAmit Mishra's Emotional Track 'Aansoo' Out Now : Lyrics by Ajay Waghela, Music by Shivram Parmar

BusinessVision Digital India Unveils India's First AI Trainer Machine in Collaboration with Intel - A Major Milestone in AI Education launched by AICTE Chairman

BusinessRadhika Nayar: The Visionary Behind Devi Jewels by Radhika C. - Empowering Elegance Through Timeless Design