Vodafone, Bharti, Idea agree India tower deal

LONDON (Reuters) - Mobile services firms Vodafone, Bharti and Idea Cellular have formed an independent company to share 70,000 tower units in India, to help operators save costs and capital.

Vodafone said in a statement on Saturday the new company, Indus Towers, will prove passive infrastructure services to all operators on a non-discriminatory basis.

The companies will merge existing assets, leaving Vodafone Essar and Bharti each owning 42 percent of the new company and Idea owning the remaining 16 percent.

"Indus Towers will enable optimisation of future tower rollout and enhanced operational efficiency leading to opex (operational expenses) and capex (capital expenses) savings for its customers," it said in a statement.

Indian customers will benefit from improved network reach and quality, more choice and greater access to mobile services across the country.

Telecoms operators in India, the world's fastest-growing mobile market, are looking to share infrastructure to keep costs down amid fierce competition and a surge in low-income subscribers from rural areas.

India added 8.1 million wireless users in October, taking the subscriber base to over 217 million. Over 52 million wireless users were added between April and October.