In Battle for Digital India, Vodafone Teams Up With Idea Cellular<br />The fight took another turn on Monday when Vodafone, a British carrier, announced<br />that it was combining its Indian unit with Idea Cellular, a local operator, in a $23 billion deal that would create one of the world’s largest cellphone providers, with roughly 400 million subscribers in India.<br />"The survival of 10 to 12 local operators isn’t a long-term reality." Under the terms of the deal announced on Monday, Vodafone<br />and Idea would merge their operations in India to create the country’s largest carrier, with roughly 35 percent of the market, based on subscriber figures.<br />Mr. Mahtani said that I use data constantly — Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube — in addition to work,<br />By MARK SCOTTMARCH 20, 2017<br />India is fast becoming the new battleground for global technology<br />and telecommunications giants, as Facebook, Vodafone and others vie to connect the country’s population of 1.2 billion to the internet.<br />The companies said the merger would allow them to invest heavily in faster mobile networks across India.<br />Facebook tried to break into the country’s telecom market by offering some internet services, based around its social network<br />and messaging apps, free through a partnership with a local carrier.
