Batelco has inked a deal with Global Banking Corporation (GBCORP) laying the foundation for a strategic partnership that would allow GBCORP to acquire 11 per cent of S-Tel in India. S-Tel is a joint venture between Batelco and India’s Siva Group that has licences to operate in six Indian states. Batelco owns a 49 per cent stake of S-Tel.
Batelco and GBCORP believe 35-45 per cent of S-Tel’s subscriber based in 2012 will come from the North East telecommunications circle
Batelco group CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos stated that since launching operations in December 2009, the mobile operator had acquired more than 300,000 subscribers in three of the six service areas. These are Orissa, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, with services yet to be launched in the North-East, Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir circles.
“Together with our investment partners, GBCORP and the Siva Group, we aspire to make S-Tel a leading and formidable operator in India’s rural sector,” Kaliaropoulos commented.
Ahmed Al Khan, senior executive director and head of investment banking at GBCORP, said that in terms of the telecom market in India, the next significant growth area for S-Tel is the potential C Circle, comprising India’s North -East region, which covers 26 per cent of the land area and 20 per cent of the population.”
“Subscribers in this segment will account for 35-45 per cent of the total subscriber base by 2012, making it one of the fastest growing telecom market segments,” stated Al Khan.
Siva Group is a US$3 billion group with diversified business interests in verticals such as wind energy, shipping and logistics, hospitality and realty, media, EPC, education and agriculture.
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