aircel

RCom-Aircel deal on shaky grounds

NEW DELHI: The proposed merger ofReliance Communications' wireless business and Aircel is clouded with more uncertainty with theDepartment of Telecommunications setting the Supreme Court's go-ahead a condition for it to approve the deal. The department, though, is close to clearing the merger of Sistema's Indian business with RCom, people aware of the process said.

The SC had earlier this year threatened to cancel Aircel's licences if the top executives of its Malaysian parent, Maxis Berhad, continued to evade Indian courts over a case where they were accused of bribing politicians and officials.

Cancellation of the licences could block the deal. DoT doesn't want to risk it clearing the merger and then the court making an adverse order.

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8 hot data plans from Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio and others

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8 hot data plans from Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio and others

It's never been better times for Indian telecom users. Courtesy Reliance Jio, the data tariffs across mobile carriers have come down. Not just this, the voice tariff too on most plans have halved over the last few month. Now, there are slew of plans from companies other than Reliance Jio that also offer 1GB data (or even more in some cases) per day. Here we have collated some of the best data and voice plans being offered by Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio, Idea Cellular, BSNL and Aircel.

Airtel offering 70GB data at Rs 549 (validity 28 days)

Price: Rs 549 Data: 70GB FUP: 2.5GB limit per day Speed: 4G data Validity: 28 days Calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: For Delhi NCR users

Airtel offering 28GB data at Rs 244 (validity 28 days)

Price: Rs 244 Data: 28GB FUP: 1GB limit per day Speed: 4G data Validity: 28 days Calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: Delhi NCR users

Vodafone offering 70GB data at Rs 244 (validity 70 days)

Price: Rs 244 Data offered: 70GB FUP: 1GB per day Speed: 4G data Validity: 70 days Voice calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: Only for the company's new subscribers

Idea Cellular offering 28GB data at Rs 347 (validity 28 days)

Price: Rs 347 Data: 28GB FUP: 1GB limit per day Speed: 2G/3G data Validity: 28 days Calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: Delhi NCR users

Reliance Jio offering 84GB data at Rs 399 (validity 84 days)

Price: Rs 399 Data: 84GB FUP: 1GB limit per day Speed: 4G data Validity: 84 days Calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: Only for Jio Prime users

Reliance Jio offering 56GB data at Rs 309 (validity 56 days)

Price: Rs 309 Data: 56GB FUP: 1GB limit per day Speed: 4G data Validity: 56 days Calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: Only to Jio Prime users

Aircel offering 84GB data at Rs 348 (validity 84 days)

Price: Rs 348 Data: 84GB FUP: 1GB limit per day Speed: 3G data Validity: 84 days Calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: For users in UP East region

BSNL offering 120GB data at Rs 666 (validity 60 days)

Price: Rs 666 Data: 120GB FUP: 2GB limit per day Speed: 2G/3G data Validity: 60 days Calls: Free unlimited calling Availability: All BSNL users

"The Supreme Court will have to give a final say, only then can we give a go-ahead," said a senior DoT official aware of the matter.

DoT stated its position in an affidavit filed before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which is considering the merger proposal.Both companies have already received the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), stock exchanges and shareholders. The companies plan to combine their wireless businesses into an equally owned joint venture that will create a stronger No. 4 operator in India's intensely competitive telecom market.This is also one of the key deals that debt-laden RCom is sewing together in an effort to stop creditors from classifying its loans as nonperforming.