 | |
| Company type | Private[1] |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1999; 26 years ago (1999) (inTiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India Registered atCoimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India)[1] |
| Founder | Chinnakannan Sivasankaran |
| Defunct | 28 February 2018; 7 years ago (2018-02-28)[2] |
| Fate | Bankrupt |
| Headquarters | Opus Centre, 47, Central Road, MIDC,Andheri,, India[3] |
| Services | Mobile telephony,wireless broadband |
| Owners |
|
| Website | aircel |
Aircel Ltd. stylised as AIRCEL , was anIndian mobile network operator headquartered inMumbai that offered voice and2G,3G and4G data services.Maxis Communications held a 74% stake and Sindya Securities and Investments held the remaining 26%.[4] Aircel was founded byChinnakannan Sivasankaran and commenced operations inTamil Nadu in 1999. It was once a market leader in Tamil Nadu and had considerable presence inOdisha,Assam andNorth-Easttelecom circles.[6]2G and3G Services including voice were shut down in all circles after failure of merger talks withReliance Communications.[7]
Aircel was founded by Chinnakannan Sivasankaran fromKovilur village,Cheyyar taluk,Tiruvannamalai district and started its operations in theTamil Nadu telecom circle in 1999.[8] It became the leading operator in Tamil Nadu and one of the fastest growing mobile operators in India.[8] Malaysian telecom companyMaxis Communications bought a 74% stock in the company from Sivasankaran in 2005. The remaining 26% stock is held by Sindya Securities and Investments promoted by Suneeta Reddy, managing director ofApollo Hospitals. In 2012, as a part of a major re-organization in its operations, the company scaled down its operations in fivetelecom circles, namelyMadhya Pradesh,Punjab,Haryana,Rajasthan andGujarat.[9] On 14 September 2016,Reliance Communications and Aircel announced the merger of their mobile network operations. Following the merger, the joint entity was expected to become India's fourth largest telecom operator in term of consumer base and revenues.[10] A year later, however, both the companies called off the deal citing regulatory and legal issues.[11]
Aircel had planned to shut down its operations in unprofitable circles including, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (West) from 30 January 2018.[12] TheTelecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) asked Aircel to report the number of subscribers who have ported out from Aircel in these six circles. In cases, where the porting process could not be completed TRAI has asked the reasons for it.[13] After the failed merger deal with Reliance, Aircel had considered merging withBharti Airtel, whose chairmanSunil Mittal had stated in November 2017, that Airtel "was open to acquisition talks". As of December 2017[update], Aircel was under a debt of around₹16,000 crore (US$1.9 billion).[14]
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Aircel paid₹ 65 billion for spectrum in 13 circles:Andhra Pradesh,Assam,Bihar,Jammu & Kashmir,Karnataka,Kerala,Kolkata,Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh,North East,Odisha,Punjab,Tamil Nadu,UP East andWest Bengal.[15] It paid US$1.44 billion (₹ 79.1 billion) for the 3G spectrum.[8] The company, as of November 2012[update] had about 5 million 3G customers. Following the key players in 3G, Aircel also slashed its 3G tariff.[16] In 2011, Aircel became the launch partner for AppleiPhone 4 along withBharti Airtel.[17]
In June 2010, Aircel paid₹ 34.38 billion for acquiring wireless broadband spectrum in eight circles:Andhra Pradesh,Assam,Bihar andJharkhand,Jammu & Kashmir, North East,Odisha,Tamil Nadu andWest Bengal.[18] Aircel launched 4G services in Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir in August 2014, becoming the only private telecom operator to offer all the three existing technologies of 2G, 3G and 4G in these markets.[19] Chinese equipment makerZTE announced on 30 December 2013, that it had won a contract to deploy a 4G broadband network based on LTE technology for Aircel. The LTE network will be launched in Tamil Nadu and will be expanded later to other circles.[20][21] On 16 July 2014, it launched 4G services in four circlesAndhra Pradesh,Assam,Bihar andOdisha.[22]
Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, sold enterprise solutions such asMultiprotocol Label Switchingvirtual private networks (MPLS VPNs),Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and managed video services on wireless platforms including WI-MAX.
Aircel offered poor network coverage in Delhi & NCR circle.[23] It used radio link time out technology without which the call drop rates will be significantly higher and many customers reported this.[24] In a 2015 survey conducted byMint and Insta Vaani inNew Delhi,Mumbai,Bengaluru,Chennai,Hyderabad,Ahmedabad andKolkata, it was found that Aircel offered the best service among all the telecom providers in the respective cities.[25]
As of December 2017[update], Aircel had a subscriber base of over 84.93 million and was India's sixth-largestGSM mobile service provider.[26] With presence in 22 circles, Aircel was a market leader inTamil Nadu and had considerable presence inOdisha,Assam andNorth-East circles. In 2012, as a part of a major re-organization in its operations, the company scaled down its operations in five telecom circles, namelyMadhya Pradesh,Gujarat,Haryana,Kerala andPunjab. In April 2015, Aircel relaunched its service inKerala.[27][28]
Now Aircel is under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process From 12 March 2018.
Aircel was the main shirt sponsor ofIndian Premier Leaguecricket teamChennai Super Kings andI-Leaguefootball teamShillong Lajong FC. Aircel was also the principal sponsor forAtlético de Kolkata FC who play in theIndian Super League football competition. It was also a major sponsor of theChennai OpenATP tennis tournament and theProfessional Golf Tour of India. Aircel also sponsored the Save theTiger campaign for protecting India's tigers. Thebrand ambassadors of Aircel included theIndian cricket team captainMahendra Singh Dhoni andTamil actorSuriya. Aircel also engaged with boxerMary Kom,Tamil actorsDhanush andSameera Reddy.[29]
Aircel is being investigated byCBI for alleged irregularities in the Maxis takeover. According to CBI, Aircel's previous owner C. Sivasankaran was forced to sell his stake to Maxis by the then Telecom MinisterDayanidhi Maran in 2005 in return for Maxis' investment of Rs. 5 billion in aDTH company owned by the Maran family.[30] There were also rumours in September 2012 that the Russian companySistema was in talks to acquire Aircel which wasn't confirmed by either companies.[31] Aircel was one among seven operators to receive notices from theDepartment of Telecommunications for not meetingradiation norms in their base tower stations in September 2012.[32][33] On 28 February 2018 Aircel filed for bankruptcy atNCLT.[34][35]
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