Bharti Group gets 5 unified licences

Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Group has got five unified licences for the circles of Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir after paying a one-time entry fee of Rs 63.25 crore to the Department of Telecom. ‘‘We have converted five Letters of Intent into licences while for Rajasthan it is yet to be finalised,’’ Bharti spokesperson told PTI.

Commenting on the development, Sunil Mittal said, ‘‘We shall be ready to offer services in these new five circles from the second quarter of next financial year. The company has envisaged investing up to Rs 600 crore on the roll-out of network in the new areas.

Besides the one-time entry fee, Bharti has also submitted requisite bank guarantees and performance bank guarantees. It is pertinent to mention that Bharti’s plans to acquire Canada’s TIW’s stake in Hexacomm in Rajasthan were dashed with Shyam Telecom exercising its first right of refusal, last month.