Exactly one year ago, squabbles over control forced Bharti Airtel and MTN to ditch their hope of forming a global telecoms group, but both emerging markets-focused companies are back on the negotiating table to thrash out a $61 billion merger.

What's changed?

For a start, both firms are now publicly talking about a detailed structure for the combined entity, something that was missing last time.

As part of an initial deal worth more than $23 billion unveiled on Monday, Bharti will pay in cash and shares for 49 percent of MTN, while MTN pays cash and stock for an effective 36 percent stake in the Indian firm. Previous merger talks collapsed when the South African firm proposed a new structure that would have seen Bharti become an MTN unit.

The past year has seen the full impact of a global recession that has spared few industries and MTN, sub-Saharan Africa's biggest mobile operator, and Bharti -- India's top mobile operator -- might be looking to combine to cope better in tough times.

Thanks to scorching growth in emerging markets, the combined entity boasts a user base of 200 million, catapulting it to the top five global industry players, while last year, the combined group would have ranked among the top ten.

MTN and Bharti are locked in exclusive talks for about two months, giving little room for rivals to upset their game plan.

For Indian telecoms tycoon, Sunil Bharti Mittal, this might be his last chance to acquire a global footprint for his firm.

Well, if you use your mobile phone just to make calls, send text messages or click photographs — the iPhone 3G is not for you.But in case you are a tech freak who loves tinkering with gadgets, this Apple smartphone might be your dream come true.

Downloadable GPS, games, AIM, Facebook on the go and of course 24-hour access to the iTunes store are just some of its pluses, but at 30,000 rupees (give or take a few hundred) for the 8GB model, the iPhone certainly doesn’t come cheap.

Slight problem though. Added applications are great on a phone that provides basic features like message and business card forwarding and video recording.

Unfortunately, these very basic features are not available on Steve Jobs’ latest offering as default.

Chayan Hazra, 30, is one iPhone owner who says he is willing to switch brands if something better comes up.

“If Nokia comes up with a phone that allows you to download applications and has a touch screen I will switch to it in a heartbeat because I know it will have all the basic features that I have become accustomed to in addition to these cool new apps,” he said.

Hazra fits right into mobile service provider Airtel’s category of “Achievers - young working, corporate professionals,” a target segment for the iPhone.

An Airtel spokesperson said they are also focussing on the “Funster segment” — tech-savvy individuals between the ages 18-35.

But for 20-something Soheil Engineer, his newly-acquired iPhone 3G doesn’t really live up to its name since 3G technology is yet to make an entry in India.

“I want to be able to live stream my favourite television shows on my phone while I am on the move,” he said.

That left me wondering. Just how many people are interested in the iPhone?

Both Vodafone Essar and Bharti Airtel, the two iPhone 3G retailers in India, are not revealing how many of the much-hyped smartphones have been sold in India since its launch last month.

A grey market dealer in Mumbai said he has sold 25-30 iPhones in two weeks and uses one himself.

I am sure that’s not good news for Apple… Unless they reduce the price by at least 10,000 rupees and India heralds in 3G technology, I certainly won’t buy one. Would you?