The Hindu Business Line : MTNL to acquire stake in Chinese telecom co

Officials said the Chinese company was planning to offer services using the home-grown 3G technology, and has full-fledged telephony operations in four provinces.

New Delhi , Jan. 10

IN a bid to expand its operations beyond Delhi and Mumbai, State-owned telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is looking to acquire an equity stake in a Chinese telecom company. MTNL said on Tuesday that it will take a decision on the investment before the end of the financial year.

The company is also looking at foraying into the African telecom market to make up for the decreasing domestic market share.

Though MTNL did not give out the name of the Chinese operator in which it was planning to be a stakeholder, officials said that the company in question was planning to offer services using the home-grown third-generation technology — TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), and has full-fledged telephony operations in four provinces.

Major market for telecom: China is the fastest growing telecom market along with India and has over 350 million mobile users. At present, the Chinese telecom market is highly regulated in terms of allowing FDI. While MTNL could be first Indian operator to invest in the Chinese market, international operators like Vodafone have invested in the booming cellular market.

The move is part of MTNL's ongoing strategy to look beyond national boundaries to increase its revenues, the growth of which is affected due to a Government policy that restricts the company's services to Delhi and Mumbai alone.

Its attempts to take a licence for other circles in India has so far been disallowed by the Government, since it would be competing with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, also State-run. Now, faced with steep decline in revenues and profits, MTNL has already made investments in Nepal and the Mauritius and is also looking at the telecom market in other developing countries.

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