Telecom operators acquiring rivals will have one year's time to conform with cross holding norms that prohibit companies from having more than 9.9 per cent stake in competing firms.
In fact, under the norms for new Unified licence regime announced last week, operators are completely barred from holding any stake in a rival company.
In draft guidelines for mergers and acquisitions (M&As), the government has noted that many telecom service providers are listed on stock exchanges and have to go through a long process to complete the deal.
Citing liberal feature of National Telecom Policy 2012, the draft proposes that the “time period of one year will be allowed for merging of various licences in different service areas and the substantial equity/cross holding equity restrictions as specified”