Deutsche Telekom, a minority stakeholder in Devas Multimedia, said that it was reviewing the situation post the decision by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to annul the contract with the Bangalore-based company.

In response to an e-mailed questionnaire, the Dutch telecom company told Business Line that “it is aware of the discussion in India. We were informed that Devas is currently reviewing the situation. As a minority shareholder, Deutsche Telekom cannot comment any further.”

Deutsche Telekom had bought 17 per cent stake in Devas Multimedia for about $75 million in 2008. The investments were based on Devas Multimedia's agreement with ISRO's commercial arm Antrix for offering broadband services in the country.

The services were supposed to be launched this year but now the company is in trouble after the Department of Space announced on Tuesday that it was taking steps to annul the contract. Columbia Capital and Telcom Ventures are the other international investors in the Bangalore start-up.

‘No official notices'

Meanwhile Devas said that it had never been informed by DoS/ISRO/Antrix at any time prior to February 8, 2011, that the Agreement was under review since December 8, 2009.

“Even to date we have received no official notices. On the contrary, Devas was provided written confirmation that all required approvals had been obtained from the highest levels for giving effect to the Agreement and repeatedly assured that the delays in delivery of the satellite capacity were only on account of technical issues,” the statement from Devas said.

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