Bharti Airtel is trying to get a South African partner again, three
years after its failed bid to link up with local giant MTN, a media
report has said.
The weekly Sunday Times, citing an unnamed source
close to Bharti Airtel Africa, said the company is still seeking
expansion on the African continent after it gained a presence in 15
north, west and east African countries following its acquisition of Zain
Telecom's business on the continent soon after the MTN deal fell
through.
Industry speculation has been that Bharti Airtel wants to
make a bid for either Cell C, the third largest mobile company in South
Africa, or latest entrant 8ta, an offshoot of former state monopoly
Telkom, the report said.
With 8ta battling to gain a foothold, analysts felt that any bid by Bharti would be for Cell C instead, it added.
The
report said Cell C and Bharti Airtel did not comment on the latest
speculation, while Telkom said there had been no approach made to it.
There
has also been speculation in recent weeks about a merger between Cell C
and 8ta after Cell C Chief Executive Officer Alan Knot-Craig hinted
that a consolidation within the industry in South Africa was inevitable
for it to be viable.
Analyst Chris Gilmour told the weekly that
although Cell C would be a likelier acquisition for Bharti Airtel than
8ta, it would probably be more expensive as it had a well-established
infrastructure and customer base.
8ta's main attraction to Bharti
Airtel would be the access it currently has to a lot of 2.3GHz spectrum,
which was a legacy from Telkom.
But the industry regulator was
unlikely to approve 8ta selling off this spectrum to anyone buying the
company, especially since it was awarded to Telkom and not 8ta directly
after hot contestation and protests by the other operators in the
industry, according to analyst Arthur Goldstuck of Worlwideworx, who
advised Bharti Airtel to look at other ventures in South Africa instead.