The newly merged Bharti Infratel - Indus Towers company, which reportedly completed its merger in August 2019, is set to be the biggest towerco. However, with Reliance Jio in July 2019 announcing that it was keen to make another attempt to acquire the 45,000 towers owned by the now-defunct Reliance Communications, it could overtake the Bharti Infratel-Indus tie up for pole position. Mergers Drive Down Tenancy Ratios The exits of Aircel and Reliance Communications from the market coupled with the wave of mergers of mobile operators has led to an industry-wide decline in tower tenancy ratios as operators decommission redundant sites and bankrupt telcos remove their equipment from the masts altogether. Bharti Infratel and Indus both reported significant declines in their tower sharing factors, while American Tower stated that organic tenant billings continued to slide in Q219.