Bharti, Idea, Vodafone to share infrastructure

India's top three GSM mobile operators, Bharti, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have joined hands to set up an independent tower company, Indus Towers, that aims to share passive infrastructure with all telecom players to enable lower cost and a more competitive operative environment.

The passive infrastructure will be shared in 16 circles, with Bharti and Vodafone owning 42 per cent stake each in the tower company. Idea will hold the balance 16 per cent.

Indus Towers will have 70,000 sites and will be an independently managed and operated company.

In addition to telecom companies, it would share infrastructure with the other wireless service providers like broadcasters and broadband service providers.