Bharti Airtel said $9 billion was not a high price for Kuwaiti telecom Zain's African assets given the growth opportunities, though it could dilute earnings in the short-to-medium term for India's leading telecom.

India will auction three slots each of third-generation wireless spectrum in most of its telecoms zones, including in the lucrative Delhi and Mumbai regions, from April 9, the telecoms ministry said on Thursday.

Bharti Airtel may finalise by Friday what could be the largest acquisition loan for an Indian borrower, as it readies a $9 billion purchase of the African assets of Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain, people familiar with the deal said.

A multi-billion dollar auction of 3G spectrum to help plug India's budget deficit may only kick off in the next financial year, a government minister said on Monday.

The government will kickstart in a week its long-pending 3G spectrum auction process by issuing notice inviting applications from bidders, the telecoms minister said, indicating that the auction would now happen only in the next financial year starting April.

Bharti Airtel is in $10.7 billion talks with Zain to buy most of the Kuwaiti telecom's cellular assets in Africa -- its third attempt to gain a foothold in the region.

The government is not sure if it can conduct a 3G wireless spectrum auction by the end of March, officials said on Tuesday, increasing the risk of widening the country's fiscal deficit for the current financial year.

Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain said it would pocket around half of the proceeds from its planned $10.7 billion sale of African assets to Bharti Airtel and use the rest to pay off debt, sending its shares soaring.

Bharti Airtel has offered up to $10.7 billion for the African assets of Kuwaiti telecom group Zain, Kuwaiti newspapers reported on Saturday, as India's largest mobile operator makes a renewed foreign push.

Nokia Siemens Networks won a $700 million contract from India's top operator Bharti Airtel, the ailing telecom equipment maker's biggest contract win in seven months.

The government will introduce mobile number portability across the country by March 31, 2010, pushing back its commencement by up to three months in parts of the country, the government said on Thursday.

More than a month after putting its biggest global assets up for sale, Reliance Communications has found few callers for a package that includes its prized FLAG undersea cable network.

Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top mobile operator, continues to explore expansion in emerging markets on a priority basis, its chief executive said on Friday.

Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top mobile operator, reported a small rise in quarterly profit growth, broadly in line with expectations, as a vicious price war hits margins in the booming industry.

Leading telecom Bharti Airtel wants to be a market leader in Bangladesh's rapidly growing mobile market after acquiring 70 percent in no. 4 operator Warid Telecom, Chief Executive Manoj Kohli said on Sunday.

Shares in Reliance Communications rose as much as 5.8 percent on Friday morning after the company got the market regulator's nod for the IPO of its telecoms tower unit.

Mobile masts company GTL Infrastructure said on Thursday it was buying the tower assets of Aircel for $1.8 billion, to become a key player in the country's mobile tower market.

The chairman of Indian state-run telecom Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, has resigned, the Press Trust of India news agency reported on Tuesday.

The government will introduce mobile number portability across the country by March 31, 2010, pushing back its commencement by up to three months in parts of the country, the government said on Thursday.