Indian mobile operator Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) has notified its customers that it will begin shutting down CDMA-based network services in the Delhi circle from 19 March 2018, reports the Business Standard, which adds that the cellco is understood to have already closed CDMA services in some of its other telecoms coverage circles. TTSL yesterday (14 March) informed ‘Tata Photon’ CDMA users in Delhi that they must switch to its GSM network or move to another service provider.
In October 2017 Indian mobile market leader Bharti Airtel agreed to acquire the debt-ridden consumer mobile businesses of TTSL and sister company Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), subject to regulatory approval, and the CDMA shutdown is seen as a move to integrate TTSL’s operations with Airtel’s nationwide GSM/W-CDMA/LTE networks and streamline the business ahead of acquisition.
Airtel received approval for its TTSL/TTML purchase from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in November 2017, leaving the deal requiring permission from agencies including the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).