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It seems AT&T is looking to yet again enter the ever-growing mobile market of India. Apparently, the U.S. carrier has expressed interest to take stake in BSNL, and “sources in the know” (whatever that means) said a pre-IPO placement might be a possibility.
A person familiar with the discussions said that the government is unlikely to sell a majority stake in BSNL, which is already undergoing restructuring. “If at all there is a sale to a foreign operator, it will not be more than 26%, considering the sensitivity of the sector,” said this person.
BSNL is present in 21 circles and has already received 3G spectrum from the government. As for AT&T’s previous endeavors in India, they’ve (foolishly?) quit Indian mobile space in 2005, selling its 33% stake in Idea Cellular after a merger with Cingular Wireless. It received around $250 million from the stake in Idea, which is now valued at nearly $3.5 billion. Smart move, huh?
[Via: The Economic Times]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
