Airtel finds Dish appetising, signals interest for merger

MUMBAI: It’s not just telecom, but also TV distribution space where Sunil Bharti Mittal has decided to give a tough fight to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.

As Ambani’ Jio has taken control of the two largest cable operators – Hathway Cable & Datacom and DEN Networks — Mittal has initiated talks with Dish TV, to merge his DTH business, housed under Airtel Digital TV, said two people with direct knowledge of the development.

“The talks are at exploratory stage,” said one of the persons. “Idea is to consolidate operations and give a strong fight to Reliance Jio. Together, Airtel Digital TV and Dish TV will be a giant.” If Mittal succeeds, the combined entity will be the world’s largest TV distribution company with over 38 million subscribers and 61% DTH market share in India.