Bharti Airtel has called off its Rs 700 crore deal to acquire the assets of Mumbai-based Loop Mobile after failing to secure requisite approvals from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the company has informed BSE Airtel mentioned that it terminated this deal keeping in mind that Loop’s license is expiring by the end of this month and after Loop informed them on Wednesday evening that it is yet to receive the requisite DoT approvals. Following this, Loop Mobile COO Surya Mahadevan told Mint that it was too late for them to negotiate with other operators and they would now be shutting down operations on November 29, requesting its remaining subscribers to switch to a rival operator. Loop had around 1.18 million active connections as per the latest TRAI numbers. TRAI permission to generate special MNP codes: Mahadevan mentions that they have currently sought permission from TRAI to generate special porting codes to enable their customers port out to other networks by November 29. In addition, Loop will also be crediting deposits from their postpaid customers by crediting them to the customer’s last bill and refunding the remaining amount in 2-3 weeks. Airtel Loop deal timeline Februrary 2014: Airtel first announced plans of acquiring the assets of Loop Mobile in February this year. The company had then mentioned that this deal will allow them to create Mumbai’s largest mobile network, with combined user base of 7 million connections in the region. The deal was expected to be a way out for Loop Mobile subscribers, considering that Loop Mobile’s license was expected…
