Hutchison Essar Planning US$2 Billion GSM Network Tender?

India's Hutchison Essar is reported to be pressing ahead with a tender for GSM equipment which could be worth as much as US$2 billion. The tender is expected to go ahead, even though the problematic purchase of a majority stake in the firm by Vodafone is mired in controversy about India's cap on foreign shareholder.

The company would roll out extra capacity in the existing 16 circles (licensed areas) and was also factoring in the proposed launch of operations in six Spacetel circles acquired from the Essar group last year. Spacetel has a letter of intent from the Department of Telecom to operate in North East, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir where Hutchison Essar is not present.
Hutchison Essar ended last year with some 23.3 million subscribers, giving the company a market share of just over 16%.


Source - Economic Times