• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

New Delhi , Dec. 4

THE Bharti group is on the lookout for suitable acquisitions in the six new circles where it has applied for unified access licences.

Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti TeleVentures Ltd, disclosed this on the sidelines of a seminar on `Spectrum policy' organised by the GSM Association and Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA).

"We expect to acquire majority stake in at least two companies which are operating in these circles. The acquisitions are likely to be completed by March 2004. Some banks have approached us regarding acquisitions. By March, you will see some action. The proposed buy-out could be a stock or a cash deal and could be in one of the six new circles where we plan to invest about Rs 600 crore,'' he said.

Earlier, in mid-November, Bharti had applied for six new licences to provide telecom services in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal & Andaman Nicobar, Orissa, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir. The applications were made keeping in view the unified access service licence guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

With this the company will have a pan-India presence with operations in almost all the circles, barring North-East.

Mr Mittal noted that the company expected to sign up more than six million mobile phone subscribers by March. Moreover, the mobile-phone charges may drop by as much as 0.20 paise a minute depending on the number of calls that are made on its network.

Earlier, asserting that GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) would be the dominant mobile technology, he said in view of the burgeoning subscriber base in the country, a small spectrum would bring delight only to the vendors.

Asking for revision in the policy guidelines for allocation of spectrum, he favoured higher bandwidth in certain key cities, while retaining earlier amount as constant for the rest.

``To keep pace with the growth in subscriber base and to continue to provide quality service, the country needs to see a much higher allocation of spectrum. About 20 Mhz of spectrum allocation per operator should come easy,'' Mr Mittal said.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr Pradip Baijal, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), said that there would soon be a consultation paper on how efficiently the present allocation of spectrum was being used and also the price structure for further release of spectrum.

On the issue of 3G route for better spectrum efficiency, he noted that the TRAI was looking into the matter to eliminate the flaws and make the `raw material' cost for mobile telephony available at a minimum price.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Tata telecom sales cell clocks Rs 300 cr in order bookings

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line