Broadband India

Sistema Plans Rollout – Existing players safe for now

Russian Telecom giant, Sistema which has controlling stake in Shyam Telecom of India with Unified Access License in 22 circles has set an ambitious target of 35 mn subscribers by 2010.

Sistema’s rollout coincides with other launches – Datacom, Idea Cellular Maxis, RCOM – GSM) and comes at a latter stage of penetration, requiring higher upfront coverage. Sistema will invest US$2.5bn over three years (US$1.0bn in CY08) to achieve 70% coverage of “state capitals, highways and railroads,” which Bharti had on end-FY08.

Government’s decision to auction 3G license before it is out of power and allowing the entry of MVNOs will dent severely into the bottomline of new telecom licensees.