A rickshaw driver talks on his mobile phone as he rides past a billboard outside a railway station in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh May 26, 2009. India's Bharti Airtel, which has restarted merger talks with South Africa's MTN Group, said on Tuesday it does not expect funding requirements for the deal to be onerous. The talks could lead to a merger creating one of the world's biggest cell phone groups by subscribers through the combination of India's biggest operator and MTN, which runs networks across 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East. Reuters Pictures 6 months ago

A rickshaw driver talks on his mobile phone as he rides past a billboard outside a railway station in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh May 26, 2009. India's Bharti Airtel, which has restarted merger talks with South Africa's MTN Group, said on Tuesday it does not expect funding requirements for the deal to be onerous. The talks could lead to a merger creating one of the world's biggest cell phone groups by subscribers through the combination of India's biggest operator and MTN, which runs networks across 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East.

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  1. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, center, meets with CEOs and business leaders from India, at the Department of the Treasury in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. From left to right are: Chanda Kochar, CEO of IICI Bank Ltd., Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, Geithner, O.P. Batt, chairman of the State Bank of India, and Sunil Bharti Mittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel.
  2. Manoj Kohli, Chief Executive Officer & joint Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, speaks during a discussion session after his keynote speech at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong November 18, 2009.
  3. Manoj Kohli (L), Chief Executive Officer & Joint Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, chats with Chang Xiaobing, Chairman and CEO of China Unicom, during a keynote speech section at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong November 18, 2009.
  4. Chief Executive Officer & Joint Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, Manoj Kohli, addresses a keynote speech at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong November 18, 2009.
  5. Manoj Kohli, chief executive and joint managing director of Bharti Airtel, speaks at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. GSMA Mobile Asia Congress is held until Thursday.
  6. Manoj Kohli, chief executive and joint managing director of Bharti Airtel, speaks at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. GSMA Mobile Asia Congress is held until Thursday.
  7. Manoj Kohli, chief executive and joint managing director of Bharti Airtel, speaks at the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. GSMA Mobile Asia Congress is held until Thursday.
  8. Indra Nooyi (R), chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, and chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd. Sunil Mittal smile during the three-day long India Economic Summit 2009 at the World Economic Forum in New Delhi November 8, 2009. There are clear signs of an upturn in the Indian economy, which is expected to expand by 6.5 percent in the year to March 2010, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday.
  9. A man walks in front of an advertisement for Airtel communications in Colombo, October 21, 2009. The entry of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) into Sri Lanka could further delay any prospects for recovery in the Sri Lankan telecom operator's. profitability, says Fitch Ratings.
  10. Cisco's Chief Globalization Officer and Executive Vice President Wim Elfrink, left, talks to Bharti Airtel Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kohli before signing an agreement between the two companies in Bangalore, India, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. U.S based Cisco and India's Bharti Airtel today announced a strategic business alliance to create products and services for the small, medium and large enterprises. The alliance would create and sell in a phased manner a set of products and services including managed data services, hosted unified communications and connected branch services.
  11. Cisco's Chief Globalization Officer and Executive Vice President Wim Elfrink, left, and Bharti Airtel Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kohli shake hands after signing an agreement between the two companies in Bangalore, India, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. U.S based Cisco and India's Bharti Airtel today announced a strategic business alliance to create products and services for the small, medium and large enterprises. The alliance would create and sell in a phased manner a set of products and services including managed data services, hosted unified communications and connected branch services.
  12. Cisco's Chief Globalization Officer and Executive Vice President Wim Elfrink, left, and Bharti Airtel Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kohli, center, hold the copies of agreement signed between the two companies in Bangalore, India, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. U.S based Cisco and India's Bharti Airtel today announced a strategic business alliance to create products and services for the small, medium and large enterprises. The alliance would create and sell in a phased manner a set of products and services including managed data services, hosted unified communications and connected branch services.
  13. Cisco's Chief Globalization Officer and Executive Vice President Wim Elfrink speaks before signing an agreement with Bharti Airtel Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kohli unseen, between the two companies in Bangalore, India, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. U.S based Cisco and India's Bharti Airtel Tuesday announced a strategic business alliance to create products and services for the small, medium and large enterprises. The alliance would create and sell in a phased manner a set of products and services including managed data services, hosted unified communications and connected branch services.
  14. A traffic policeman directs traffic under an advertisement of Bharti Airtel at a booth in the eastern Indian city of Siliguri October 2, 2009. The collapse of tie-up talks between Bharti Airtel and MTN is expected to be only a temporary setback for Sunil Mittal, who has come a long way from selling bicycle parts to creating India's top mobile firm.
  15. A man talks on a mobile phone in front of advisements of Bharti Airtel in the eastern Indian city of Siliguri September 23, 2009. India welcomes a tie-up between Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN, but there were some legal issues that needed to be looked at, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.
  16. An Indian man talks on his mobile phone next to a Bharti Airtel sign in New Delhi on September 21, 2009. India's top mobile firm Bharti Airtel and South African cellular flagship MTN are ready to sign a tie-up deal but regulatory issues could stymie a final agreement, reports said.

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