BSNL is planning to bid for overseas licences

[Aadinath]

BSNL has decided to expand overseas. It has a cash surplus of over USD 10 billion and will use a part of these resources for its overseas foray. So far, only MTNL was the state-owned Telco that has been bidding for licenses abroad. With its big bang listing on the back burner, state-owned BSNL is now exploring opportunities in the global markets.

This marks the first time that BSNL, which so far concentrated only on the Indian market, has decided to expand overseas. BSNL has a cash surplus of over $10 billion and will use a part of these resources for its overseas foray. So far, only MTNL was the only the state-owned telco that has been bidding for licences abroad.

The company may explore options like bidding for licences in Egypt, Rwanda, Malawi, Turkey and Iran. All these countries will open bids for licence auction within the next couple of months.

When pointed out that West Asian operators had beaten Indian telcos such as MTNL, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications in most licence auctions in developing countries in the recent past, the BSNL executive said that the PSU had the resources to compete with global majors.

Other Indian telcos such as Bharti, MTNL and RCOM may also bid for these licences. The BSNL executive also pointed out that the Indian mobile market would reach saturation over the coming years and that all telcos including state-owned players would have to look abroad to sustain the current growth rates.

Besides, the average revenue per user is much higher in markets abroad, including other emerging markets when compared to about $5 in India.

[Gauresh]

Indian telecom operator RCOM was also pipped by France Telecom to acquire a 51% stake in Telkom Kenya. Bharti, which has bagged a mobile licence in Sir Lanka and runs operations in Seychelles, Channel Islands, has lost its bid in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Bhutan and Qatar amongst other countries.

[Rahul45]

MTNL whose international operations include Nepal and Mauritius, has lost its bids for mobile licences on over half-a-dozen countries abroad. The PSU also lost its bid to acquire a 51% stake in Telekom Kenya.