Last month, Etisalat, a UAE operator, bought 45% stake in Swan Telecom for $900 million. Swan Telecom is a new operator in India and obtained 2G licenses in 13 telecom circles (out of 22) at the beginning of the year. This deal values Swan Telecom at around $2 billion. The valuation has caused severe heartburn to the Finance ministry as a pan-India 2G license was given at Rs. 1650 crores, while the company’s current value stands at Rs. 9000 crores without any infrastructure on the ground. Note that Indian laws permit Foreign Direct Investment of up to 74% in telecom firms.
In the middle of September 2008, reports emerged that Telecom Italia acquired a 49% stake in Unitech Wireless, another new operator who recently received 2G licenses. This agreement is valued at $2 billion although initial reports suggested that Telecom Italia was insisting a value of $1 billion for the company. However, Telecom Italia has denied the news that they have forged a deal with Unitech. Norway’s Telenor was also in the running to buy a stake in Unitech.
Videocon’s Datacom, yet another of the six new operators who were given 2G licenses, has been in talks with AT&T and Verizon to form a joint venture. Datacom has decided to use CDMA technology for its services but has not divulged any details on the buyout. Datacom is apparently valued at $1.5 billion, a lower number because of the internal rift between the two major partners.
Tata Teleservices (TTSL), an incumbent operator, has decided to find a strategic partner by offloading a minority stake in the company. Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and Europe’s France Telecom are vying to invest around Rs 5000 crores to obtain a stake of around 12%. According to The Economic Times, the deal may be announced within the next one month.
In the middle of September 2008, reports emerged that Telecom Italia acquired a 49% stake in Unitech Wireless, another new operator who recently received 2G licenses. This agreement is valued at $2 billion although initial reports suggested that Telecom Italia was insisting a value of $1 billion for the company. However, Telecom Italia has denied the news that they have forged a deal with Unitech. Norway’s Telenor was also in the running to buy a stake in Unitech.
Videocon’s Datacom, yet another of the six new operators who were given 2G licenses, has been in talks with AT&T and Verizon to form a joint venture. Datacom has decided to use CDMA technology for its services but has not divulged any details on the buyout. Datacom is apparently valued at $1.5 billion, a lower number because of the internal rift between the two major partners.
Tata Teleservices (TTSL), an incumbent operator, has decided to find a strategic partner by offloading a minority stake in the company. Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and Europe’s France Telecom are vying to invest around Rs 5000 crores to obtain a stake of around 12%. According to The Economic Times, the deal may be announced within the next one month.
