• Consolidation begins
Competition in India’s mobile market is starting to squeeze out some of the smaller players. Market leader Bharti Airtel confirmed that it will acquire Loop Mobile and its 2.98 million Mumbai-based customers for an unspecified sum that reports put at around 7 billion rupees (€83 million) including the assumption of Loop’s debt. The move came just days after Bharti won spectrum in the 900-MHz and 1800-MHz bands in India’s latest auction for INR185.3 billion (€2.2 billion). With companies like Bharti and Vodafone–which bought INR196.45 billion worth of spectrum–to contend with, there is little wonder smaller players are finding it tough going; the Bharti/Loop deal could be the first in a series. According tothe TRAI, Bharti ended 2013 with 198.4 million customers, or 22.4% of the market, while second-placed Vodafone had 160.4 million (18.1%); both added a percentage point to their market shares last year at the expense of their smaller rivals.

• Growth in the Indian telecom market to be driven by three
operators: S&P
According to global rating agency, Standard & Poor (S&P), the Indian telecom market is entering a new phase of growth where the top three players will drive the competition. S&P states that since 2009, competitive intensity has been determined by new entrants like Tata Teleservices Limited, Uninor and Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited among others. For a few years, it was smaller players and new entrants which shaped competition in the Indian market with price wars. However, going forward, the rating agency expects intense competition in India’s telecom industry to slowly moderate as a result of consolidation.

The rating agency underlines that the country’s leading three players - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular are likely to strengthen their market position because smaller players are likely to find it increasingly difficult to acquire additional spectrum at high prices and lack the scale to run profitable nationwide operations.

Moreover, a supportive and stable regulatory policy framework will also drive growth in the sector. Earlier, regulatory ambiguity on issues like 3G roaming pacts led to cancellations, penalties as well as legal disputes for the country’s leading operators.

S&P notes that the government has announced merger and acquisition policy for the telecom sector. The positive move on consolidation has already resulted in a deal where Bharti Airtel will acquire Loop Mobile. The rating agency underscores that though regulatory risks for the telecom sector in India are higher than those in other countries, the risk profile has improved following the government’s move to allow spectrum trading. Despite, a sign of revival in the industry, S&P states that aggressive and prolonged price wars, including those in the data segment, along with the entry of new players could also impact the Indian telecom industry’s growth.

• Huawei named as Vodafone’s latest Project Spring supplier
Huawei has signed a five-year radio access network deal with Vodafone that falls under the U.K.-based operator’s £7 billion Project Spring. The deal, which will see Huawei supply SingleRAN equipment and services, covers 15 countries in Western and Eastern Europe, and Africa. Huawei is the third major equipment maker to take a slice of Project Spring. Vodafone has awarded five-year contracts to Ericsson and Nokia Solutions and Networks as part of its Project Spring investment programme. Ericsson said it will upgrade and expand Vodafone’s 2G and 3G networks and support the roll-out of 4G. This includes network services and the Ericsson 6000 base station series and Antenna Integrated Radio product. NSN will supply its Single RAN platform, including the Flexi 10 base station, as well as the NetAct operations support system and related services. Vodafone also selected NSN to provide a common Subscriber Data Management system. No details were provided on where the equipment will be used.

• Ericsson Base Stations Built Inside Street Lighting Poles
Ericsson and lighting vendor Philips have jointly launched a new connected LED street light that includes a mobile base station within the design.

Philips and Ericsson said that their new product combines the benefits of mobile connectivity and LED lighting in a ‘’lighting-asa- service’’ model for cities. It allows city authorities to offer space within their connected lighting poles to network service providers for mobile broadband infrastructure.

Philips will now offer cities LED Street lighting that can include mobile telecoms equipment from Ericsson. In turn, mobile operators working with Ericsson for mobile broadband infrastructure will be able to rent space in the poles.

Philips LED street lighting can generate energy savings of 50 to 70 percent, with savings reaching 80 percent when coupled with smart controls - as validated by a study conducted by The Climate Group in 12 of the world’s largest cities. The study also showed that citizens prefer the white light of LED lighting, citing a greater sense of safety and improved visibility compared to the orange glow of traditional high pressure sodium systems.