Corporate India Jumps on the Telecom License Bandwagon
DoT receives flood of applications for mobile licenses
BY MAYANK GUPTA
With its more than 240 million subscribers, India’s telecom market suddenly has captured the attention of every large Indian company that has resources to invest. Thus, the telecom industry is buzzing about the licenses set to be issued by Department of Telecommunication (DoT) that will enable these companies to enter the market.
Companies such as DLF Ltd., Indiabulls Financial Services Ltd. and Unitech, which compete in unrelated sectors such as realty and financial services, have applied for telecom licenses. Even foreign players have jumped on the bandwagon and now are vying for a slice of the license pie. One prominent player is AT&T Inc., the U.S. telecom giant, which has linked up with Mahindra Telecom to bid for the licenses.
India is the world’s fastest-growing telecom market. iSuppli estimates that the number of new mobile handset subscriptions will soon pass 8-9 million per month. Currently, 19 percent of the India's 1.12 billion people use wireless phones, compared with 37 percent in China and 56 percent in Brazil, two other developing nations. Given these factors, the future of the telecom sector is very bright and thus all the big corporations are looking to claim a share of the market.
To provide telecom services, companies must have licenses. Strong economic growth and a large population base translates into huge demand for telecom services.
To meet this demand, the DoT has invited private players to bid for licenses to provide telecom services in the various telecom circles. TRAI’s decision to allow an unlimited number of companies to provide telecom services has been a key driver for this sudden interest ...