Indian telecom ministry to send notice to Bharti Group
The Indian telecommunication ministry will reportedly be sending a demand notice to Bharti Group to recover pending dues arising out of alleged under-reporting of revenues for the years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008.
The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has prepared a draft demand notice, which has been sent for legal vetting. A special audit of the accounts of Bharti Airtel and its allied group of companies for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 was conducted by the DoT to verify whether proper Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) statements were submitted and the licence fee there on was paid correctly.
The auditor had more than a year ago submitted a report more than a year ago and pointed out some discrepancies in the account statements, with a few of them under dispute in telecommunication tribunal TDSAT.
The DoT conducted a similar audit for Vodafone-Essar, RCom, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices. All the auditors have submitted reports and similar action is being contemplated against all the companies. According to sources, the special audit had revealed about US$22.29 million pending from Bharti Group.
Bharti Airtel considering bid for Millicom SL
Bharti Airtel CEO, Manoj Kohli told reporters in India that Airtel may bid for Millicom’s Sri Lankan operation. Bharti already operates in SL.
Wireless Federation had earlier reported that Millicom/Tigo Laos has been sold to Russia’s Vimpelcom.
Bharti is actively considering acquisitions in Africa and the world over after the talks with MTN collapsed.
Bharti group CEO Sunil Mittal has said that the company won’t engage in dialogue with MTN for a third time, after inconclusive talks twice.
Nasdaq-listed Millicom provides prepaid cellular telephony services to over 30 million customers in 16 emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Asked if Bharti Airtel was also interested in Kuwait’s Zain Telecom, Kohli said they will continue to explore international acquisitions. (Airtel-Zain, See Here)
Bharti keen on ringing abroad
NEW DELHI: The Bharti group is not keen on any domestic acquisitions in the telecom sector, instead it is looking at international opportunities.Speaking to DNA Money, Bharti chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “We have moved away from domestic acquisition.”
His reason: Not much is available in terms of benefits to Bharti from such acquisitions, as the company has licence, spectrum and customers across the country with a pan-India presence.
“The value that we can extract from a domestic acquisition will almost always be less than those who want to pick up a new territory or a new licence,” he said.
Even as there has been a buzz recently that Bharti may be keen on buying the BPL Mobile operation in Mumbai from Essar, Mittal denied it categorically.
“We have not even ventured into that thought. It holds no benefit for us,” he said. Hutch and Essar are entangled in a legal battle over the merger of BPL Mobile with Hutch-Essar.
When asked to react on the recent telecom sector clashes between the Tatas and the Aditya Birla group over Idea Cellular and then Hutch and Essar over BPL Mobile in Mumbai, Mittal argued that “these are not industry issues. These are partner issues.”
According to him, just the way the Idea issue got settled, even the Hutch and Essar clash would get sorted out. “You will see some settlement coming in the next one month or two (in the case of Hutch Essar clash),” he said.
Elaborating on the Bharti group’s thirst for international acquisitions, Mittal said, “We are ready for international acquisitions. As soon as we see the right opportunity, we will strike.”
But he pointed out that there wasn’t much opportunity available right now around the world.
“Most of what is available today is too far – like in
Africa or
South America. That is not of much interest to us,” he said.But, closer home, the group is looking at
Sri Lanka and even
Bhutan for telecom acquisitions. In addition, the group is exploring international opportunities in the
Chanel
Island and
Indian Ocean areas.The Bharti group already has a successful mobile telephony business in
Seychelles. It’s also about to roll out services in
Chanel
Islands.
Source- http://www.dnaindia.com
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