New Delhi, April 3: Telecom newcomers are negotiating with equipment suppliers as a rollout deadline nears.
In February, the department of telecom had threatened action against them if they didn’t commence operations by the middle of this year.
The deadline is looming for Datacom, Loop, S Tel, Unitech Wireless and Swan, which received licences in January 2008 for cellular operations.
According to DoT officials, “If operators fail to comply with the rollout deadline, they will have to pay a penalty of around Rs 450 crore.”
If an operator fails to meet the deadline or pay the penalty, the DoT can even cancel the licence.
Loop Telecom, with licences in 21 circles, yesterday finalised a deal with China’s ZTE for equipment supply.
“ZTE has been selected supplier for the core GSM network, access and service layer,” said S. Bandopadhyay, Loop Telecom’s chief technical operator.
The company, a subsidiary of Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile), is set to roll out services in the next four months.
Real estate developer Unitech’s telecom arm, Unitech Wireless, is negotiating with Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel Lucent and ZTE for equipment worth $400-500 million.
The contract, to be finalised by the end of this month, will be awarded to two vendors. Unitech Wireless expects to start services by June-end.
Videocon-promoted Datacom has signed up with Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei for its GSM network and will kick off in nine circles by the middle of this year.
Swan Telecom, which has licences for 13 circles, has signed an intra-circle roaming pact with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.
The DoT and the ministry of corporate affairs are investigating into the ownership of the company.
UAE’s Etisalat has picked up a 45 per cent stake in Swan.
Analysts said it might be difficult to start from June-July 2009.
“Even if the new operators place equipment orders today, it will take at least 10 months to set up the network and start services,” said Sudipto Basu, an independent telecom analyst.
Sistema Shyam, a joint venture between Sistema Group of Russia and Shyam Group, is the only one to commence operations in Rajasthan in the first year of getting a licence.
Government rules stipulate that 10 per cent of the districts in a circle must be covered within the first year of getting a licence.
Within three areas, it should be 50 per cent of the districts.
In metros, the companies must cover 90 per cent of the service area within a year.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Business | Cell newbies in a hurry to take off
In February, the department of telecom had threatened action against them if they didn’t commence operations by the middle of this year.
The deadline is looming for Datacom, Loop, S Tel, Unitech Wireless and Swan, which received licences in January 2008 for cellular operations.
According to DoT officials, “If operators fail to comply with the rollout deadline, they will have to pay a penalty of around Rs 450 crore.”
If an operator fails to meet the deadline or pay the penalty, the DoT can even cancel the licence.
Loop Telecom, with licences in 21 circles, yesterday finalised a deal with China’s ZTE for equipment supply.
“ZTE has been selected supplier for the core GSM network, access and service layer,” said S. Bandopadhyay, Loop Telecom’s chief technical operator.
The company, a subsidiary of Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile), is set to roll out services in the next four months.
Real estate developer Unitech’s telecom arm, Unitech Wireless, is negotiating with Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel Lucent and ZTE for equipment worth $400-500 million.
The contract, to be finalised by the end of this month, will be awarded to two vendors. Unitech Wireless expects to start services by June-end.
Videocon-promoted Datacom has signed up with Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei for its GSM network and will kick off in nine circles by the middle of this year.
Swan Telecom, which has licences for 13 circles, has signed an intra-circle roaming pact with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.
The DoT and the ministry of corporate affairs are investigating into the ownership of the company.
UAE’s Etisalat has picked up a 45 per cent stake in Swan.
Analysts said it might be difficult to start from June-July 2009.
“Even if the new operators place equipment orders today, it will take at least 10 months to set up the network and start services,” said Sudipto Basu, an independent telecom analyst.
Sistema Shyam, a joint venture between Sistema Group of Russia and Shyam Group, is the only one to commence operations in Rajasthan in the first year of getting a licence.
Government rules stipulate that 10 per cent of the districts in a circle must be covered within the first year of getting a licence.
Within three areas, it should be 50 per cent of the districts.
In metros, the companies must cover 90 per cent of the service area within a year.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Business | Cell newbies in a hurry to take off
