Airtel-Tigo merger gets NCA approval in Ghana

Bharti Ghana (Airtel) on Tuesday said the Ghana's National Communications Authority has given approval for its merger with Millicom Ghana (Tigo) to proceed, subject to some conditions.

According to the company, the merger will result in an entity which will be the second largest mobile network operations in the west African country.

The company said the merger -- which was first announced in March this year -- required the regulator to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the application and the regulatory ecosystem.

"To ensure efficient and equitable distribution and access to the spectrum, the merged entities will have to submit a network integration plan to the Authority which will indicate how they intend to relinquish portions of their total spectrum allocation," the company said in a statement.

"This, however, will be done in phases on geographical area basis and over a period not exceeding eighteen months to avoid disruptions on the network," it added.

On the issue of numbers, the merged entity will retain all the numbering resources held by the merging entities, said the statement.

"The NCA has also requested the merged entity to submit a plan to educate customers about changes and related measures within 30 days from date of merger," it added.