Unitech unit to launch mobile svcs in Dec Qtr
ET 16 JUN 2009
NEW DELHI: The telecoms unit of Indian developer Unitech Ltd will launch mobile services with Norway's Telenor in the December quarter this year, Unitech Ltd's managing director said on Tuesday. Unitech Wireless, in which Telenor is taking a 67 percent stake, has got wireless spectrum in 21 service areas, excluding Delhi, in the world's fastest growing wireless market, Sanjay Chandra told reporters.
NEW DELHI: The telecoms unit of Indian developer Unitech Ltd will launch mobile services with Norway's Telenor in the December quarter this year, Unitech Ltd's managing director said on Tuesday. Unitech Wireless, in which Telenor is taking a 67 percent stake, has got wireless spectrum in 21 service areas, excluding Delhi, in the world's fastest growing wireless market, Sanjay Chandra told reporters.
Raja expects minimum Rs 25,000 cr from 3G, BWA spectrum bidsET 16 Jun 2009,
NEW DELHI: Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday said that he expects revenue of at least Rs 25,000 crore from the auction of radio waves for third generation (3G) mobile, broadband and wireless services. Raja, who met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, said his department had assured the government of an early service rollout. "In connection with the 3G and WiMAX auctions, we assured (the Finance Minister) of an early rollout, an early auction and more revenue for the government," Raja told reporters after meeting Mukherjee earlier today. Raja's estimate is lower than what (Rs 30,000 crore) the government had forecast last year when the 3G auction process was announced. Raja meets Mukherjee again in the evening seeking clarity on the number of licences to be auctioned and the reserve price to be set. DoT officials will also be there to discuss the issue with their counterparts in the Finance Ministry. DoT plans to auction frequency for 20 of India's 22 telecom service areas. The exercise has been delayed after the Finance Ministry suggested that the starting auction price of Rs 2,020 crore be doubled.
NEW DELHI: Telecom Minister A Raja on Tuesday said that he expects revenue of at least Rs 25,000 crore from the auction of radio waves for third generation (3G) mobile, broadband and wireless services. Raja, who met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, said his department had assured the government of an early service rollout. "In connection with the 3G and WiMAX auctions, we assured (the Finance Minister) of an early rollout, an early auction and more revenue for the government," Raja told reporters after meeting Mukherjee earlier today. Raja's estimate is lower than what (Rs 30,000 crore) the government had forecast last year when the 3G auction process was announced. Raja meets Mukherjee again in the evening seeking clarity on the number of licences to be auctioned and the reserve price to be set. DoT officials will also be there to discuss the issue with their counterparts in the Finance Ministry. DoT plans to auction frequency for 20 of India's 22 telecom service areas. The exercise has been delayed after the Finance Ministry suggested that the starting auction price of Rs 2,020 crore be doubled.
BSNL’s GSM project faces further delayHBL JUNE 16, 2009
New Delhi, June 15 Finnish telecom equipment-maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has shot off a fresh letter to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s two-member integrity panel alleging that it has been unfairly singled out of the bidding process for the Rs 30,000- crore GSM project.
NSN has alleged some of the other bidders had also not produced certificates required to be eligible for the tender. The panel is investigating whether the tendering process was transparent or not. BSNL will not award the contracts till the investigations are complete.
Experience certificate
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed BSNL to give the reasons in writing. According to BSNL sources, NSN had not submitted an experience certificate for the North zone. However, NSN countered it on the ground that the certificate submitted for other zones was relevant for the North zone as well. NSN said in its letter that if BSNL had to disqualify its bid, then the PSU should have also rejected Ericsson’s bid since the latter had allegedly not given a separate certificate for 2G equipment, though BSNL had floated different tenders for 2G and 3G equipment.
BSNL had referred the dispute to an integrity panel approved by the Central Vigilance Commissioner after NSN took its case to the CVC seeking intervention. Two former Chief Election Commissioners — Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy and Mr B.B. Tandon — are the members on this panel. Ericsson and Huawei were short-listed by BSNL, which had rejected offers from NSN, Alcatel Lucent and ZTE.
New Delhi, June 15 Finnish telecom equipment-maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has shot off a fresh letter to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s two-member integrity panel alleging that it has been unfairly singled out of the bidding process for the Rs 30,000- crore GSM project.
NSN has alleged some of the other bidders had also not produced certificates required to be eligible for the tender. The panel is investigating whether the tendering process was transparent or not. BSNL will not award the contracts till the investigations are complete.
Experience certificate
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed BSNL to give the reasons in writing. According to BSNL sources, NSN had not submitted an experience certificate for the North zone. However, NSN countered it on the ground that the certificate submitted for other zones was relevant for the North zone as well. NSN said in its letter that if BSNL had to disqualify its bid, then the PSU should have also rejected Ericsson’s bid since the latter had allegedly not given a separate certificate for 2G equipment, though BSNL had floated different tenders for 2G and 3G equipment.
BSNL had referred the dispute to an integrity panel approved by the Central Vigilance Commissioner after NSN took its case to the CVC seeking intervention. Two former Chief Election Commissioners — Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy and Mr B.B. Tandon — are the members on this panel. Ericsson and Huawei were short-listed by BSNL, which had rejected offers from NSN, Alcatel Lucent and ZTE.
Datacom row ends as Nahata agrees to sell stake to DhootsET 15.06.2009
NEW DELHI: Mahendra Nahata of Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) has finally agreed to sell his 36% stake in telecom service provider Datacom Solutions to the Dhoots of the Videocon Group to end a year-long corporate battle that had spilt over to lenders, regulators and even potential foreign investors, two people familiar with the negotiations said. The Dhoot family, which owns a 64% in Datacom, is already negotiating with a European company to pick up a strategic stake in the company to bankroll its pan-India rollout plans, a person familiar with the settlement said on condition of anonymity. While Mr Nahata’s 36% stake is valued at around $300 million (about Rs 1,422 crore), the HFCL chairman will not get this payment immediately, top executives said. As of now, the Dhoots had paid Mr Nahata a ‘token payment’ and the remaining would be paid in tranches, they added. Datacom, which had got licences to offer telecom services in all circles in India except Punjab early last year, has yet to start operations mostly due to the standoff between its two partners. Both Mr Nahata and Mr Dhoot denied that any such deal has taken place. Mr Nahata said that talks of any settlement between the two partners of Datacom were baseless, adding that he would continue to remain a stakeholder in the telco. Similarly, Videocon group chairman VN Dhoot, in reply to an email query, said: “There is no question of shareholding changes or settlements or payouts between the two parties.” A person familiar with the deal said that it is likely to involve a merger of HFCL Infotel’s telecom operations in Punjab with Datacom. But Mr Nahata will not get any additional cash consideration for HFCL Infotel, as its debt of more than Rs 400 crore will be transferred to the books of Datacom. Mr Dhoot denied this too. “It is denied that any deal involving HFCL Infotel’s telecom operations in Punjab being merged with Datacom has taken place with Mr Mahendra Nahata,” he said. He said Datacom has engaged Morgan Stanley to find a strategic partner, but refused to name any likely foreign partner due to the non-disclosure clause with Morgan Stanley. The negotiations between Mr Nahata and the Dhoots had been deadlocked for close to 15 months with Mr Nahata demanding Rs 2,116 crore for his stake. Last year, he had rejected an offer by the Dhoots to buy him out for Rs 1,360 crore. The valuations of telecom companies, which got licences last year, have crashed over the past nine months. Datacom, which commanded a valuation of nearly $3 billion in early 2008, is now valued by analysts at around $1 billion. It had announced that it would begin operations in Chennai by August 2008, but the deadline was postponed to December 2008. The company failed to meet this too. The standoff between the partners had also resulted in several potential international investors refusing to buy into the company. UAE’s Etisalat held several rounds of talks with Datacom, but eventually picked up 45% stake in another new telco Swan for $900 million. Some foreign telcos had even set a pre-condition that they would only invest in Datacom after both the warring stakeholders exit the firm. The foreign telcos then wanted to bring in their own Indian partner to hold 26% in the telco. Indian regulations allow 74% foreign direct investment in the telecom sector.
Tata Tele to roll out GSM services by month-endET 11.06.2009
NEW DELHI: India’s second-largest CDMA telecom operator Tata Teleservices on Wednesday said it would launch mobile services on the popular GSM platform by end-June under the Tata DoCoMo brand. Tata Teleservices, in which Japan’s NTT DoCoMo has a 26% stake, has already invested close to $2 billion to roll out a pan-India GSM network. The CDMA operator said it plans to launch commercial services on the GSM platform in a phased manner, starting with South India, followed by western and northern regions. “We expect to complete our pan-India rollout by the end of this year,” Tata Teleservices’ president for GSM operations Deepak Gulati said. Currently, TTSL is India’s sixth-largest mobile operator with 35.7 million subscribers as of end-April on the CDMA platform. Close to 70% of the country’s 403-million mobile subscribers use the GSM platform. DoCoMo’s managing director of its global business division Toshinari Kunieda told ET that the Japanese telco was planning to launch its famed i-mode services in India. Popular in Japan, i-mode is a mobile internet service that offers users access to email and other content, including sports, weather forecast, games, financial services and ticket booking. It has millions of subscribers in Japan and over 95,000 internet sites provide content for this platform. “It may not be possible to introduce i-mode in its current format in India. We are looking at customising it for the market here,” Mr Kunieda added. Since its first launch outside of Japan in 2002, the i-mode service has been introduced in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In fact, NTT DoCoMo shares i-mode technology and knowhow with overseas partners in countries such as Taiwan, Philippines, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and the UK, among others. Apart from i-mode, Mr Kunieda also said that the Indian entity would leverage the Japanese operator’s expertise in the 3G space. According to him, DoCoMo may also bring in various high-end handsets for data applications for TTSL customers in India. “We have a wide range of tie-ups with handset manufacturers. We can customise some of these handsets for the high-end market here,” he said. He also did not rule out the possibility of DoCoMo bringing the Google phone — a handset using the Android operating system — to India. Mr Kunieda also said that DoCoMo had no plans to raise its stake in TTSL beyond the 26% it currently holds. Asked if the Tatas planned to list TTSL, its managing director Anil Sardana said this would depend entirely on its shareholders. “In due course, every Tata company has followed that route and we will also follow it,” he said, declining to share any timeline for the plans. On the possibility of the company participating in the 3G auction, Mr Sardana said it would depend on how the auction shapes up, availability of spectrum and the reserve price.
Foreign cos keep Aircel line busyET 10.06.2009
France Telecom, Telstra And AT&T Talk To Maxis For Picking Minority Stake
FRANCE Telecom, Telstra of Australia and US’ AT&T are in talks with Malaysia’s Maxis Communication to buy a minority stake in Aircel in yet another sign that slowdown and credit crunch are having little impact on telecom deals. The talks between the first two companies and Maxis—which owns 74% in Aircel—revolve around France Tele buying 20-25% in the Indian telecom player, a dominant player in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. The remaining stake in the telecom services provider is held by the Chennai-based Reddy family, the promoters of Apollo Hospitals. Aircel, which is among the country’s big regional players, is aiming to become a pan-India player through a $5-billion expansion plan. Meanwhile, Saudi Telecom, which owns 25% in Maxis, is increasing its stake in the company to 35% for about $1 billion. The money from the sale of Maxis’ stake will be used to invest in Aircel. Goldman Sachs is advising Saudi Telecom in its transaction—expected to be completed in a month—with Maxis. The valuation of Aircel, which has a subscriber base of 19.6 million, is estimated at $7-8 billion. France Tele, which is not looking to buy a majority stake, will end up paying $1.4-2 billion if the deal goes through at this valuation, according to people close to the development. That should hardly be surprising as Indian telecom is perhaps among the few sectors that is still seeing robust M&A activity despite the economic slowdown. In the last 10 months alone, deals worth at least $5 billion, including the $2.7-billion transaction where Japan’s NTT DoComo bought a 26% stake in Tata Teleservices, have been concluded. Indeed, Indian telecom companies too are growing at a scorching pace with monthly subscriber additions rising to over 10 million a month. At this rate, the Indian subscriber base is expected to leap past the 500-million mark in no time. For France Tele, chance to re-enter India “THE continued high growth is of great interest to foreign investors. Impending developments such as auction of spectrum for 3G (third generation) and broadband wireless access (BWA) besides the entry of MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) offer further growth opportunities,” said Enam Investment Banking telecom & media head Salil Pitale. For France Telecom, Europe’s third-largest phone company, it will be an opportunity to re-enter the world’s fastest-growing telecom market as it faces a slowdown in its home turf and in other mature markets. In response to an email, an Aircel spokesperson said, “We are not aware of any discussions with France Telecom about this. Maxis Communications and its partners remain firmly committed to the accelerated growth and development of Aircel to be a successful pan-Indian operator.” A France Telecom spokesperson said, “We do not comment on market rumours.” France Telecom first approached Maxis last August, just before the global market meltdown. “At that time, it was also in talks with Tata Teleservices (TTSL). Negotiations with Maxis were revived after NTT DoCoMo clinched the deal with TTSL,” a person familiar with the talks told ET. Maxis was also in talks with AT&T last year for selling a similar stake, but the deal could not go through due to differences in valuation. Talks between France Tele are still at a preliminary stage and the deal may also fall through because of Maxis’ insistence that the prospective investor also purchase a small stake from Maxis. France Tele, on the other hand, wants the investment to go into only Aircel, and is not keen on buying directly from Maxis. Incidentally, France Tele had held a stake in Mumbai-based BPL Mobile for many years before exiting in 2003. In 2007, its group company Orange Business Services acquired GTL’s Enterprise and Managed Services unit. Subsequently, it bagged NLD and ILD licences in India. A stake in a mobile firm will now complete France Telecom’s India story. Aircel is currently in a money-guzzling model for its targeted pan-India footprint by next June. Maxis owner Ananda Krishnan also needs money to pump into Natrindo Telepon Seluler, a telecom firm in Indonesia, which has a 3G licence. He also needs money for Sri Lanka Telecom, which he bought out from NTT DoCoMo in 2007. To fund these plans, Mr Krishnan delisted Maxis in June 2007 in a $12-billion deal and within days, sold 25% to Saudi Telecom for over $3 billion. Due to this, Saudi Telecom has an effective 18.5% stake in Aircel. Dilution of another 25% in Aircel will help Maxis raise around $2 billion at a time when the global credit scene is bleak. In contrast, India’s telecom growth story continues to attract international investor interest, with major telcos making a beeline for destination India. This is despite the presence of 12 players and entry of four more telcos later this year. For Mr Krishnan, a stake sale could be an opportunity to raise money without ceding controlling rights. The low-profile billionaire, whose business empire stretches from telecom and media to power and construction, is known for buying and selling businesses. Only last May, he sold Excel, the giant exhibition venue in London’s Docklands, for around $230 million, to a group backed by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. He then bought a 20% stake in British regional newspaper chain Johnston Press and is widely believed to be interested in setting up a global media empire.
Defence signs deal to free 45 MHz of spectrumBusiness Standard June 09, 2009
A critical battle has been won for the telecommunications industry as the defence ministry has agreed to release 45 mega hertz (MHz) of spectrum, the radio frequency on which mobile phone signals travel. Out of this, 25 MHz is for 3G, or third generation of mobile services that enable high-speed data transfer, and the rest for 2G, the service prevalent in the country at present.
The defence ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology under which the armed forces will immediately release 10 MHz of 3G spectrum and 5 MHz of 2G spectrum. The rest will be released according to timelines agreed on by the two ministries, which are contingent upon DoT placing the supply order for setting up an optic fibre cable (OFC) network for the defence services, the supply of the equipment, its installation and commissioning. A top executive of a telecom equipment company said the release of this spectrum by the defence ministry will solve the immediate problems of telecom service providers, many of which are plagued with network congestion.
To put things in perspective, Bharti Airtel, the largest mobile phone service provider, has about 9 MHz across the country, on which it services some 100 million subscribers.
The department of telecommunications, or DoT, is believed to have submitted a paper to the defence ministry last year that said the spread of 3G services had been held up because of insufficient spectrum. A high-level committee of the two ministries will be constituted to monitor the timelines and cost. The defence forces have always been major users of spectrum, a scarce natural resource. They use it for strategic security-related operations like air defence, command and control, information services, communication and early warning. They have spectrum along the border, as well as in the hinterland and mainland, for low-intensity conflicts. The defence ministry’s view has been that it could part with some spectrum by shifting the use of some systems to an exclusive fibre-based network.At the meeting of the group of ministers on spectrum under the previous government, the defence ministry had said security needs made it imperative for the armed forces to have a dedicated and exclusive OFC network. Microwave mobile links of the army operated through the country and catered to public emergency services such as natural disasters, counter-insurgency operations, etc. Therefore, it was essential to set up an exclusive and dedicated OFC network for the defence services if they were to give up spectrum.
France Telecom, Telstra And AT&T Talk To Maxis For Picking Minority Stake
FRANCE Telecom, Telstra of Australia and US’ AT&T are in talks with Malaysia’s Maxis Communication to buy a minority stake in Aircel in yet another sign that slowdown and credit crunch are having little impact on telecom deals. The talks between the first two companies and Maxis—which owns 74% in Aircel—revolve around France Tele buying 20-25% in the Indian telecom player, a dominant player in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. The remaining stake in the telecom services provider is held by the Chennai-based Reddy family, the promoters of Apollo Hospitals. Aircel, which is among the country’s big regional players, is aiming to become a pan-India player through a $5-billion expansion plan. Meanwhile, Saudi Telecom, which owns 25% in Maxis, is increasing its stake in the company to 35% for about $1 billion. The money from the sale of Maxis’ stake will be used to invest in Aircel. Goldman Sachs is advising Saudi Telecom in its transaction—expected to be completed in a month—with Maxis. The valuation of Aircel, which has a subscriber base of 19.6 million, is estimated at $7-8 billion. France Tele, which is not looking to buy a majority stake, will end up paying $1.4-2 billion if the deal goes through at this valuation, according to people close to the development. That should hardly be surprising as Indian telecom is perhaps among the few sectors that is still seeing robust M&A activity despite the economic slowdown. In the last 10 months alone, deals worth at least $5 billion, including the $2.7-billion transaction where Japan’s NTT DoComo bought a 26% stake in Tata Teleservices, have been concluded. Indeed, Indian telecom companies too are growing at a scorching pace with monthly subscriber additions rising to over 10 million a month. At this rate, the Indian subscriber base is expected to leap past the 500-million mark in no time. For France Tele, chance to re-enter India “THE continued high growth is of great interest to foreign investors. Impending developments such as auction of spectrum for 3G (third generation) and broadband wireless access (BWA) besides the entry of MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) offer further growth opportunities,” said Enam Investment Banking telecom & media head Salil Pitale. For France Telecom, Europe’s third-largest phone company, it will be an opportunity to re-enter the world’s fastest-growing telecom market as it faces a slowdown in its home turf and in other mature markets. In response to an email, an Aircel spokesperson said, “We are not aware of any discussions with France Telecom about this. Maxis Communications and its partners remain firmly committed to the accelerated growth and development of Aircel to be a successful pan-Indian operator.” A France Telecom spokesperson said, “We do not comment on market rumours.” France Telecom first approached Maxis last August, just before the global market meltdown. “At that time, it was also in talks with Tata Teleservices (TTSL). Negotiations with Maxis were revived after NTT DoCoMo clinched the deal with TTSL,” a person familiar with the talks told ET. Maxis was also in talks with AT&T last year for selling a similar stake, but the deal could not go through due to differences in valuation. Talks between France Tele are still at a preliminary stage and the deal may also fall through because of Maxis’ insistence that the prospective investor also purchase a small stake from Maxis. France Tele, on the other hand, wants the investment to go into only Aircel, and is not keen on buying directly from Maxis. Incidentally, France Tele had held a stake in Mumbai-based BPL Mobile for many years before exiting in 2003. In 2007, its group company Orange Business Services acquired GTL’s Enterprise and Managed Services unit. Subsequently, it bagged NLD and ILD licences in India. A stake in a mobile firm will now complete France Telecom’s India story. Aircel is currently in a money-guzzling model for its targeted pan-India footprint by next June. Maxis owner Ananda Krishnan also needs money to pump into Natrindo Telepon Seluler, a telecom firm in Indonesia, which has a 3G licence. He also needs money for Sri Lanka Telecom, which he bought out from NTT DoCoMo in 2007. To fund these plans, Mr Krishnan delisted Maxis in June 2007 in a $12-billion deal and within days, sold 25% to Saudi Telecom for over $3 billion. Due to this, Saudi Telecom has an effective 18.5% stake in Aircel. Dilution of another 25% in Aircel will help Maxis raise around $2 billion at a time when the global credit scene is bleak. In contrast, India’s telecom growth story continues to attract international investor interest, with major telcos making a beeline for destination India. This is despite the presence of 12 players and entry of four more telcos later this year. For Mr Krishnan, a stake sale could be an opportunity to raise money without ceding controlling rights. The low-profile billionaire, whose business empire stretches from telecom and media to power and construction, is known for buying and selling businesses. Only last May, he sold Excel, the giant exhibition venue in London’s Docklands, for around $230 million, to a group backed by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. He then bought a 20% stake in British regional newspaper chain Johnston Press and is widely believed to be interested in setting up a global media empire.
Defence signs deal to free 45 MHz of spectrumBusiness Standard June 09, 2009
A critical battle has been won for the telecommunications industry as the defence ministry has agreed to release 45 mega hertz (MHz) of spectrum, the radio frequency on which mobile phone signals travel. Out of this, 25 MHz is for 3G, or third generation of mobile services that enable high-speed data transfer, and the rest for 2G, the service prevalent in the country at present.
The defence ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology under which the armed forces will immediately release 10 MHz of 3G spectrum and 5 MHz of 2G spectrum. The rest will be released according to timelines agreed on by the two ministries, which are contingent upon DoT placing the supply order for setting up an optic fibre cable (OFC) network for the defence services, the supply of the equipment, its installation and commissioning. A top executive of a telecom equipment company said the release of this spectrum by the defence ministry will solve the immediate problems of telecom service providers, many of which are plagued with network congestion.
To put things in perspective, Bharti Airtel, the largest mobile phone service provider, has about 9 MHz across the country, on which it services some 100 million subscribers.
The department of telecommunications, or DoT, is believed to have submitted a paper to the defence ministry last year that said the spread of 3G services had been held up because of insufficient spectrum. A high-level committee of the two ministries will be constituted to monitor the timelines and cost. The defence forces have always been major users of spectrum, a scarce natural resource. They use it for strategic security-related operations like air defence, command and control, information services, communication and early warning. They have spectrum along the border, as well as in the hinterland and mainland, for low-intensity conflicts. The defence ministry’s view has been that it could part with some spectrum by shifting the use of some systems to an exclusive fibre-based network.At the meeting of the group of ministers on spectrum under the previous government, the defence ministry had said security needs made it imperative for the armed forces to have a dedicated and exclusive OFC network. Microwave mobile links of the army operated through the country and catered to public emergency services such as natural disasters, counter-insurgency operations, etc. Therefore, it was essential to set up an exclusive and dedicated OFC network for the defence services if they were to give up spectrum.
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