U.S. firms were big winners in the latest round of cellular licensing in India, after watching Asian and British companies get the lion’s share of previous awards.
Twenty-one licenses covering 15 regions of the country were awarded to eight companies-two licenses per region. Operators will deploy Global System for Mobile communications technology. The Indian government said the eight companies paid a total of $262 million in first installments.
Eight cellular licenses were first issued in 1992; two licensees operate in each of the four dominant cities of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and New Delhi.
California-based AirTouch Communications Inc., a partner in another Indian cellular licensee, snagged its second jewel-a license in the nation’s largest state, Madhya Pradesh, to serve 70 million people. Regional cities include Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwallor.
AirTouch is a 20 percent partner in Mobile Telecom Services, which won a license last year to offer cellular service in Madras. That venture is led by RPG Enterprise, which also leads the new venture, Cellular Communication India Ltd. AirTouch controls 49 percent of the new alliance. Together, the partners will pay $16 million over 10 years for the Madhya Pradesh license. Service is expected to begin during this year’s third quarter.
Nynex Corp. is making its first move into Indian wireless as a minority partner in the venture that won the other license for Madhya Pradesh. The group, led by Reliance Industries Ltd., also won licenses for West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Northeast and Orissa.
Also new to India’s cellular market is AT&T Wireless Services, which is a 49 percent partner in service provider Birla Communications Ltd. The joint venture won two licenses to provide cellular service in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Gujarat license covers 43 million pops; the Maharashtra license includes 74 million pops, AT&T said. The 51-percent lead partner of Birla is Aditya V. Birla Group, an Indian industrial house that claims $4 billion in annual revenue. Birla Communications will be headed by Rajan Mathews, chief financial officer of AT&T Wireless’ California, Hawaii and Nevada regions.
North Carolina-based Vanguard Cellular is a minority partner in Modicom, which won two licenses, for Punjab and Karnataka. Lead partner in Modicom is the BK Modi Group, which also leads Modi Telstra, the cellular licensee serving Calcutta.
