MTS customers can soon start migrating to Reliance Communication’s (RCOM) 4G services, RCOM’s Consumer Business CEO Gurdeep Singh said during a call with analysts. The company’s merger deal with Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which owns the MTS brand is expected to receive approval from the Department of Telecommunication in a few weeks, added Singh during the call. MTS currently has 8 million subscribers on its cellular network and 1.8 million on mobile broadband. “The DoT approvals are expected within a few weeks from now; post that, we will begin to integrate SSTL's operations with RCOM and will migrate their customers to Reliance 4G services,” Singh said during the company’s Q2 FY17 earning’s call. The merger deal between RCOM and SSTL was valued at around $690 million and was first announced in November 2015. It got an approval from Rajasthan and Mumbai HC last month, as well as from the stock exchanges in January. Once the merger deal is complete, MTS will hold 10% equity stake in RCOM, while RCOM would acquire 800 MHz spectrum owned by MTS. During an earlier analyst call in August, Singh mentioned that RCOM would not be taking on any of MTS’ liabilities through the stock swap. Other RCOM deals RCOM-Aircel merger: In September, RCOM said that it has signed “definitive documents” for merging its wireless business with Aircel. Both companies had sent in their definitive proposal in June for regulatory approval. The deal was valued at $5.2 billion during signing of the agreement. RCOM-Jio spectrum sharing: RCOM…
