Bharti, Idea shares fall sharply

MUMBAI, INDIA: Shares in telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular dropped sharply on Thursday after the country's telecom regulator, TRAI, proposed steep increases in the price of second-generation (2G) mobile radio waves.

At 11:25 a.m. IST, top mobile operator Bharti was down 4.12 per cent at Rs 318.65, while Idea tumbled 7.39 per cent at Rs. 61.40. Sensex  was at 17,419, down by 172.83 point.