NAIROBI, March 3 (Reuters) - Kenya's two biggest telecomsoperators, Safaricom and the local unit of BhartiAirtel, have made a joint bid for the smallestoperator, Indian group Essar Coomunications' Yu, the industryregulator said on Monday.
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) said it hadreceived applications from the firms to allow the transactionthat will see Safaricom and Airtel spend a combined $100million.
Local newspaper reports said Safaricom, which is 40 percentowned by Vodafone, will get Yu's infrastructure such asbase stations in a bid to improve the quality of its network.
Meanwhile Airtel is expected to acquire the subscriber basethat Yu has built up since entering the Kenyan market in 2008,said The Sunday Nation newspaper.
Bob Collymore, the chief executive of Safaricom, toldReuters they would make a formal announcement when the deal isfinalised.
Vodafone (VOD)
