Telecom Lead Asia: Quippo, a telecommunication
infrastructure company in India, has proposed a bid of Rs 3,000-crore to
acquire tower business of Banglalink, a subsidiary of Egypt-based Orascom
Telecom.
Kolkata-based SREI group is the promoter of Quippo
and it also manages Viom Networks, majority owned by Tata Teleservices. After
the completion of this deal, it is expected that Viom Networks will receive the
tower management contract.
Viom Network is the leading tower management company in
India. The company owns and manages 38,500 towers in India. The acquisition of
5,200 towers of Banglalink will allow Viom to increase cash flow at the
company.
Viom Networks is a telecom tower joint venture
between the Tata Teleservices and the SREI group. It was formed in
January 2009 through a merger of the telecom tower operations of both these
companies.
The Supreme Court order to cancel 122 licences of
telecos has affected Viom’s India revenues. The company gets over 20
percent of its revenue from Norway-based Telenor, and if it stops its
operations in India, it will be a major setback for Viom Networks.
The Economics Times has reported that Viom is also in
advanced talks with leading telecom operators in Africa and West and East Asia
to secure tower management contracts.
