Operators

Axiata Group and Bharti Airtel are merging their Bangladeshi units to push the combined venture into second place in the market.

Indian market leader Bharti Airtel is believed to be on the cusp of acquiring 4G spectrum from rival operator Aircel for roughly INR38 billion ($357 million).

Operators in Indonesia have been warned by the country’s telecoms minister that their licences could be revoked unless they consolidate or improve their build-out efforts.

China Mobile has been heavily pushing its 4G offering, and this effort began to pay off at the end of 2015.

MTN has stated that “it is not and has never been implicated in corruption related actions” in Cameroon after being implicated in fraud by the country’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (Conac).

Indonesian operator XL Axiata is planning another infrastructure sale in an attempt to further reduce its debt.

Brazil’s Oi is currently looking to secure financing from two banks as it seeks to merge with TIM.

MTN Nigeria has claimed that it refuses to pay “a dime or penny” of the $3.9 billion fine that it has incurred in the market for failing to comply with security regulation.

Millicom is considering a launch of its Tigo mobile brand in Mexico as competition improves following new regulation.

MTN Nigeria has acquired the CDMA operator Visafone after a protracted negotiation period.

China Unicom and China Telecom have signed a cooperation agreement to compete more effectively against market leader China Mobile.

Hard on the heals of its deal to acquire Cellcom Liberia, Orange is further strengthening its African portfolio by buying Airtel's operations in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone.

Orange has announced it has entered into an agreement with Cellcom Telecommunications Limited to acquire, through its subsidiary Orange Côte d’Ivoire, Cellcom Liberia, the leading mobile operator in the West African country.

Israeli operator Partner Communications has ended its brand licensing agreement with Orange.

Reliance Communications (RCom) and Vodafone India are reportedly negotiating a spectrum-sharing agreement for 3G spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai.

Telefonica and MTN have signed a strategic partnership for cooperation across several areas, with a focus on M2M and enterprise.

Indian newcomer Reliance Jio is looking to strengthen its presence in the market via acquisitions of smaller firms in order to compete more effectively with its larger rivals.

The government of Serbia has rejected all 6 binding offers that it received for the 58% majority stake in Telekom Srbija.

Blue Label Telecoms is acquiring a 35% stake in South Africa’s smallest mobile operator, Cell C.

South African operator Vodacom has agreed not to acquire Neotel’s spectrum under the revised terms of its proposal to acquire the company.

Indian number four Reliance Communications (RCom) is selling its mobile towers to the private equity firms Tillman Global Holdings and TPG Capital Management.

Turkcell is attempting to acquire a controlling stake in Fintur Holdings from its partner TeliaSonera.

VimpelCom is combining its Pakistani unit Mobilink with rival operator Warid Telecom in a deal marks Pakistan’s first merger.

China Mobile has put in a CNY31.88 billion ($4.98 billion) for local fixed-line provider Tietong in order to bolster its portfolio of assets.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is looking to assume full control of Kuwaiti number two Viva with an acquisition of the 74% stake that it doesn’t yet own.

Bulgarian number three Vivacom has been bought at auction for €730 million by the businessman and fellow Bulgarian Spas Roussev.

South African incumbent Telkom has abandoned discussions relating to a potential acquisition of local mobile operator Cell C.

VimpelCom has confirmed that it will sell its Zimbabwean unit to state-owned ISP ZARnet.