Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. plans for a $24 billion merger after the South African government balked at the structure of the proposed deal. This dashes the companies' hopes of forging an emerging markets telecommunications empire.
The plan to expand into emerging market is part of their strategy to hedge against the challenges back home in India. That is a shortage of radio spectrum that is hurting call quality and increased competition from low-priced startups.