Sahara group marks telecom entry with stake in s-tel

[karthik]

Old news (may 2009) but a relevant one..The Sahara group has picked up an 11.7% stake in Chennai-based telecom company S Tel, which has unified access services licenses.The government parlance for telecom licenses that allow wireline as well as wireless services in a service area has also given start-up spectrum for Sahara group in Bihar, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam for Mobile Service.According to a report submitted by the telecom regulator TRAI to the government. The regulator had prepared a report on the ownership of all companies that were given telecom licences last year following reports of stake sales by promote.A Sahara executive, who did not wish to be named, confirmed that a group company by the name of Sahara India Investment Corp had picked up stake in S Tel.STEL also holds license to provide broadband services across the country. Last year, S Tel attracted attention when it offered to pay Rs 13,752 crore to the government for a pan-India spectrum. Earlier in 2008, it was reported to have doubled the offer of revenue to the government for licences in all 22 circles for which it had applied for.