India-based Telecom operator Bharti Airtel said that its subsidiary Airtel Africa plans to go for an initial public offer (IPO) and listing on London Stock Exchange. This disclosure was done in a statutory filing by the company at Bombay Stock exchange (BSE), India. The company further said that related documents have been submitted for approval to the UK Financial Conduct Authority. Airtel offers telecom services in 14 countries in Africa. The telecom behemoth will be using the resources to reduce the debt incurred by the company over the years. The company was in news recently that it would be leveraging its strong position in Africa to mobilize resources to fund the expansion activities and to reduce the accumulated debts. Airtel invested in Africa some nine years ago and has emerged as a leading player in telecom space in most of the African countries it operates. It is now the second largest mobile service provider in Africa, increasingly expanding beyond voice into data services and Airtel Money. Airtel is the oldest player in the mobile space in India. Till recently, it was the most dominant player. Of late, the Reliance owned Jio is giving a chase for its money. Experts are of the opinion that the mobile telephony space in India is in for a shake-out. The future course of competition will be fierce between Jio and Airtel. In the meantime, the small players in the arena may get merged with either of the two or will have a natural death. One telecom expert, who does not want to disclose his name, told Trendsnafrica. com that who would outwit the other between the two players depends on the government support that they can command. As things stand now, no government would like to create a situation of monopoly. They have to have more than one active player to ensure competition to ward off any situation of arbitrary pricing. It is also a known fact that the unhealthy price war triggered among the players has eaten into the vitals of the telecom companies.
