India's Idea Cellular to buy mobile airwaves for US$499mil from Videocon

Meeting burgeoning demand: Idea, a unit of the Aditya Birla conglomerate and nearly a fifth-owned by Malaysia's Axiata, plans to use the acquired spectrum for launching 4G broadband services in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (west).

MUMBAI: Idea Cellular Ltd, India's third-biggest mobile phone operator, has agreed to buy radio airwaves in two services areas from smaller rival Videocon Telecommunications for 33.10bil rupees (RM2.09bil) to boost its high-speed data services. 

The deal comes a month after the government allowed carriers to trade mobile airwaves, a move aimed at improving services in the world's second-biggest market by number of mobile customers.