The Hindu Business Line : Unitech to finalise partner for telecom venture soon

With 22 telecom licences tucked in its belt, real estate major Unitech said on Monday that it is hopeful of roping-in a strategic partner for its telecom business within the next two months, for which it is currently in talks with three-four global telecom companies.

“We would like to tie-up a partner in the next two months. We have been approached by nearly every telecom operator or investor worldwide. We are talking to three-four players currently. These are large global telecom players,” Mr Sanjay Chandra, Managing Director, Unitech Ltd, said.

The Department of Telecom recently issued, to the company’s subsidiaries, the licence for providing Unified Access Services in 22 telecom circles across the country.

Unitech has estimated the total investment requirement to be roughly $2 billion in the next three-five years for the telecom venture. “We have funded the initial round ourselves ($400 million towards the licence fee) through internal accruals. We estimate that our immediate upcoming investment requirement will be about $500 million, depending on the kind of roll-out we plan along with our partner,” he said.

In the first round, the partner will bring about $400 million pegging the initial debt component at about $100-150 million.

Over the build-out period, the venture would have to take on more debt, he pointed out.

“As opposed to the earlier times, it is now easier to roll out operations as infrastructure sharing is permitted. We may get some start-up spectrum in some circles sooner than later and such circles can come up in a couple of months but the service will still take six-eight months, thereafter,” he said.

‘Early days’

Mr Chandra refused to divulge how much the new partner will hold in the telecom venture. “It’s still early days. Much will depend on the partner and what he brings to the table, and whether it is a strategic partner we go for, or a strategic and financial partner.”

He said the venture would focus on service levels, and pointed out that the company is mulling bundling services with Unitech’s existing offerings in residential and office space. “I am sure we will be able to come up with ideas suitable for bundling service with our existing real estate products. We already have a platform of existing customers,” he said.

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