Tata tele services sell tower unit stake to Quippo in Delhi
6 Jan
2009, 1638 Hrs
New Delhi, Jan 6 India's Tata Teleservices has agreed to sell a 49 per cent stake in its telecoms tower arm to another Indian tower firm, valuing the business at an enterprise value of 130 billion rupees.
In a bid to cut costs, Indian mobile operators are increasingly sharing base stations and tying up with independent operators as they expand across vast rural districts and penetrate smaller towns, where low income subscribers dominate.
In November, NTT DoCoMo (9437.T) agreed to buy a 26 per cent in the unlisted Tata Teleservices.
Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd, an unlisted firm in which India's SREI Infrastructure (SREI.BO) and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) own stakes, will pay Tata Tele 24 billion rupees and transfer 5,000 towers to the merged entity.
Addressing the press conference in here last evening, Anil Sardana talked about their new business venture with Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd.
"This deal assumes a big significance for us, because tying up with an entity which understands right ways and knitty grittis of tower sharing is very important. We value our tie up with Quippo," said Sardana, Managing Director of Tata Teleservices.
The merged tower company, Wireless-TT Info-Services, which will be managed by Quippo, will have 18,000 towers in total and ramp that up to 50,000 by 2010-11.
Last year, India gave licenses to at least five new telecoms firms, which are likely to start services in 2009 in an increasingly competitive market where call rates are already among the world's cheapest.
"Coming at a time when all new operators will need passive infrastructure. 3G and broadband wireless access auctions are round the corner. That will give a lot of opportunity," Sardana.
The government is scheduled to auction spectrum for third-and fourth-generation wireless services at the end of January.
Tata Teleservices had 31 million subscribers at the end of November on the less popular CDMA platform.
Rivals Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO), Vodafone Essar (VOD.L) and Idea Cellular (IDEA.BO) have formed a joint venture tower firm, which now owns about 80,000 towers, India's largest such company.
Shares in Tata Tele's listed unit, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) closed 2.7 per cent up on Monday, while SREI shares jumped about 20 per cent in a Mumbai market that gained 3.2 per cent.
Citigroup and Nomura advised Tata Teleservices, while Quippo was advised by JM Financial (JMSH.BO).
Tata Tele is looking to spend two billion dollars to enter the dominant GSM sector, and Sardana said it would announce the launch of GSM services shortly.
The company has received GSM radio spectrum in 13 of India's 22 telecom service areas and hopes to get airwaves in most of the remaining areas by the end of this month, he said.
As part of NTT DoCoMo deal, the Japanese firm and Tata Sons, the parent of ata Tele, will make an open offer for up to 20 per cent of listed unit Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra).
The offer was slated to open on January 8, but has been delayed as India's stock regulator is yet to give its approval. (ANI)
| Discuss this story on KhabarExpress Forum Pelagian Dictionary teleservic sell tower unit stake Quippo Delhi Comments to this News Be the first to comment on this News Post Your Comments to this News Posting Rules |
- Personal number plates, window stickers - signs of aggressive drivers
- India to sustain and enhance global engagements: Anand Sharma
- England won't repeat last Ashes-winning blunder in South Africa: Collingwood
- Peter Andre 'furious' with Katie Price after 'terminations' disclosure
- Brit student pub-crawls come under fire over booze-induced mayhem
- बीकानेर महापौर चुनावः एक विश्लेषण
- Deepawali: The Festival Of Lights
- Nine tips for nine nights
- need new prevention tech for HIV, other STIs and UP
- "Good health is India's basic need": Easier said than done Mr Prime Minister!
Delta Received the BSNL Award for Best Telecom Equipment Manufacturer
Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar in Movie De Dana Dan