AT038;T joins 145;mad146; rush for unified access licences

US-based ATT today applied to the department of telecommunications for licences to provide telecom access services throughout the country.

US-based AT038;T today applied to the department of telecommunications DoT for licences to provide telecom access services throughout the country. Today was the deadline for applying for unified access service licences UASL. The figure may go beyond 500 as the Department of Telecom DoT is still counting the applications received from various companies. Nearly 200 applications are estimated to have been submitted today.

UASL licences permit a company to offer both mobile and fixed line telephone services. DLF, Tulip, Hinduja TMT and Omaxe were among the companies that applied for licences today.

A senior DoT official termed the rush of applications as 8220;sheer madness8221; and said the Department would start scrutinising these documents soon. DoT would screen the applicants once a committee appointed by communications minister A Raja comes up with fresh guidelines detailing the minimum net worth, ownership and other crucial aspects of the applicants.

Under the foreign direct investment FDI policy guidelines, foreign companies cannot own more than 74 per cent equity in mobile and fixed line telecom service companies. AT038;T has partnered with Mahindra Telecommunications Private Ltd for the UASL licences. The other companies that have applied for licences include Swan and Cheetah Telecom, JSW Steel, HFCL and the Ruias-backed BPL Mobile.

At present, AT038;T is a national long distance NLD and international long distance ILD service provider in India. It was the first to apply for the licences when the government revised the licensing conditions last year. It launched its services in April this year and became the first international player to launch services.

It exited from Indian mobile service market in July 2005 when it sold its equity in Idea to the Tata and Aditya Birla groups. It entered the Indian mobile market through a JV with the Aditya Birla group by acquiring cellular mobile licences for Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1995. Later it merged with Tata8217;s Andhra circle to form Idea.

In December 2003, it sold its 49 per cent equity in BPL Cellular, a cellular service provider in Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, to BPL Mobile promoted by Rajeev Chandrashekhar. The company had invested about Rs 750 crore in this venture and existed without making any gains on its investments. The officially cited reason for its exit was that the company was then focusing on North America. It got equity in BPL Cellular when it acquired US West internationally, which owned 49 per cent equity in BPL Cellular.

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With an addition of about 7 million new mobile subscribers every month for the last one year, India is the fastest growing cellular market in the world. It is attractive for any telecom service provider to offer services in India. This is the reason that Vodafone bought Hutch8217;s 67 per cent stake in Hutch Essar, the second largest GSM mobile telecom service provider in India at a whopping 11.1 billion.

AT038;T is among the largest telecom operators in the world in terms of revenue. Its revenue during the first quarter of this year totalled 29 billion.

AT038;T8217;s Indian sojourn

1995

Acquires GSM licence in a JV with Aditya Birla group.

2003

Sells equity in BPL Cellular to BPL mobile

2005

Sells equity in Idea to Tata and Birla group

Oct 1, 2007

Applies with DoT for UASL licences in partnership with Mahindra Telecom