According to the Cellular Operators Association of India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) should initiate a consultation on mergers and acquisition (M&A) policy with all stakeholders to enable a comprehensive review of the current guidelines. This will facilitate consolidation in an intensely competitive sector and help in reducing costs, improving services and reducing debt.

The GSM Association has also voiced similar concerns, stating that the industry is looking for liberalised norms that could create a suitable environment for consolidation. Heavy competition in the industry has impacted the financials of the operators and has led to a total debt of about Rs 2,500 billion. According to the companies, consolidation will lead to efficiencies of scale and ease decisions for potential investors as well as improve service offerings.

COAI has further stated that the current guidelines are unlikely to encourage consolidation because of spectrum pricing norms. Other limitations such as lock-in period and limits on market share and spectrum holdings of the merged entity also discourage the larger operators from merging with each other. Due to this policy environment, no significant M&A activity has taken place so far.