(India Express via NewsEdge) Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar and Idea will merge their tower assets in 16 circles to form an independent tower company, Indus Towers.
Bharti and Vodafone will have a 42% stake each in the company while Idea Cellular will have a 16% stake. Indus Towers will offer towers to all telecom operators.
To begin with, the company will have 70,000 towers.
The company expects to reach 200,000 towers in the next two-three years.
Reliance has already hived off its infrastructure division as a separate company.
At present, GTL Infrastructure is the largest independent tower company in India. Bharti Infratel, the company that holds the tower assets of the Bharti Group, has a presence in 23 circles with around 50,000 towers.
While it will transfer its passive infrastructure assets in 16 circles, it will run the business on its own in seven circles.
Idea Cellular has transferred the business in nine out of 11 circles and Vodafone-Essar has merged its entire infrastructure in 16 circles with Indus Towers.
Earlier, Reliance Communications was able to divest a 5% equity stake to seven investors in its tower company.
The Tatas have also set up an independent tower company. International tower companies, including American Tower Corporation, have been on the prowl looking at starting their own infrastructure or picking up a stake in other infrastructure companies.
© 2007 The Indian Express Online
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