Operator consolidation has mainly been associated with Europe, India and the USA in recent years, but it is happening in other regions too, as price wars heat up and mobile growth slows, driving the need for economies of scale. Norwegian-based Telenor and Malaysia’s Axiata have announced a proposed deal to merge their respective Asian assets to create one of south Asia’s biggest operators, with a combined base of 300m customers and $13bn in annual revenues. This would tilt Telenor’s internationally diverse business more decisively eastwards and leave it with a controlling 56.5% stake in the combined business. The rest would be held by Axiata. The new business would have its headquarters in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, and would consolidate operations…