Bharti to Buy Warid Group's Uganda Telecom Operations

By R. Jai Krishna

NEW DELHI--Bharti Airtel Ltd. (532454.BY), India's largest telecommunications company, Tuesday said it agreed to buy the Warid Group's telecom operations in Uganda.

A Bharti statement didn't say how much it will pay for Warid Telecom Uganda LLC. The Warid Group is part of the United Arab Emirates-based diversified Abu Dhabi Group. Bharti had in 2010 bought a majority stake in Warid's Bangladesh telecom operations.

The latest deal comes at a time Bharti is facing regulatory and legal hurdles in its home market and as it tries to turn around its loss-making African operations.

Bharti, about 32%-owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., entered Africa in June 2010 by buying the African telecom operations of Mobile Telecommunications Co. Its business in Africa has been a drag on Bharti's financial performance.

Tuesday, Bharti said the acquisition will increase its number of subscribers in Uganda to more than 7.4 million and make the company the second-largest telecom operator in the African country with a market share of 39%. Its local unit, Airtel Uganda Ltd., currently has 4.6 million users.

Telecom companies in Uganda are also facing regulatory hurdles. The country's Parliament passed rules which include provisions to regulate phone-call tariffs and double the levy that telecom companies need to pay the government to set up networks in rural areas.

Bharti and other companies in Uganda are negotiating with the government to overturn some of these rules, the Indian company had said earlier this year.

Bharti's rivals in Uganda include the local operations of South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. and France Telecom's Orange cellular service.

Write to R. Jai Krishna at [e-mail]

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