Vodafone gets till 23 April to make C&W bid (UK)
Mobile operator Cable & Wireless Worldwide has extended the deadline for Vodafone to submit its final propsal once again, as Tata Communications has pulled out of the same. Vodafone has been given till 23 April to come up with their final offer.
As per a statement by C&W, the operator said that advanced discussions with Vodafone are on-going with a view to establishing whether or not they might result in a formal offer for the company. C&W added there can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms of any offer.
As reported by Wireless Federation earlier, Tata Communications had said that it had pulled out of the bidding process as the two companies were unable to agree on a price for the acquisition.
Tata ends talks with C&W; Vodafone to propose final offer today (UK, India)
Indian operator Tata Communications had been bidding to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide (C&W), but has reportedly held back discussions as the two have been unable to agree on a price. According to reports, a statement by Tata Communications said that the companyconfirms that it has been unable to reach an agreement with C&W on an offer price and therefore confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for C&W.
However Vodafone is still in discussions with C&W and has to submit its final offer today, said C&W in a statement. In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, Vodafone must, by a deadline of not later than 5.00 p.m. on April 19, 2012, either announce a firm intention to make an offer for C&W in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for C&W.
In the event that the deal with Vodafone is not successful, Tata Communications has left an option open to re-bid in the next six months. As per a statement by the company, Tata Communications reserves the right to announce an offer or possible offer or make or participate in an offer or possible offer for C&W (and/or take any other action which would otherwise be restricted under Rule 2.8 of the Code) within the next six months following the date of this announcement in the circumstances.
Vodafone and Tata get till 19 April to make C&W bid (UK, India)
Vodafone Group Plc and Tata Communications, which are planning to bid for UK operator Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW), have been given an extended deadline to submit their bids. As per a report by BN, the new date for submission of bids has been set for 19 April. However, CWW has said that there is no certainty that an offer will be made.
CWW has said that the extension of the bid deadline will enable Vodafone and Tata to establish whether or not their preliminary discussions with Cable & Wireless might result in a formal offer for the company which the board of Cable & Wireless would be willing to recommend.
Tata Communications had hinted at a possible cash offer for CWW while Vodafone had said that they are evaluating a potential bid offer for the operator.
Vodafone and Tata ask for more time for C&W bid (UK, India)
Vodafone Group Plc and Tata Communications Ltd. are seeking to extend the deadline set for March 29 to bid for Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc (C&W), saying they need more time, as reported by the Sunday Telegraph.
As per the report, UBS AG representing Vodafone, and Standard Chartered Plc along with Morgan Stanley, representing Tata, will ask for a later deadline because C&W hasn’t provided enough information to the bidders yet.
The companies Vodafone, Tata Communications and Cable & Worldwide are yet to make an official statement regarding the same.
Vodafone gets till 29 March to consider CWW bid (UK)
Telecom giant Vodafone has been given more time to decide whether it would like to bid for telecom operator Cable and Wireless Worldwide (CWW). According to reports, the deadline for Vodafone has been extended to 29 March, same as the time allotted to India based Tata Communications.
CWW said in a statement that the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers has consented to an extension of the relevant deadline for Vodafone to announce either such an offer or no intention to make an offer until 5.00 pm on March 29. The company added that there can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms of any offer.
Vodafone had first expressed its interest in making an offer to CWW in February while Tata Communications announced that it is considering a potential offer to CWW on 1 March. Both companies are reportedly considering a cash offer.
As per the company, Cable & Wireless Worldwide is a global telecoms company providing a wide range of high-quality managed voice, data, hosting and IP-based services and applications. Established in the 1860s, Cable & Wireless Worldwide helps more than 6,000 organisations deliver their goals.
Vodafone may be considering C&W bid (UK)
Mobile operator Vodafone may be planning to make an offer for Cable & Wireless Worldwide ahead of the Monday deadline, according to a report by FT.
As per the report, Vodafone has been considering the price and plans to make a formal bid for C&W Worldwide. In the event that the operator does not bid before the deadline set for 12 March 2012, Vodafone will have to wait for six months before it can bid again.
Vodafone had earlier said that it was considering the benefits of a cash offer for C&W but was not certain about making an offer.
The report also reveals that Indian operator Tata Communications has also shown an interest in C&W Worldwide, and may raise loans of US$ 2 billion to support the process and help refinance some existing debt.
Tata communications may offer telecom infrastructure to RIL (India)
Tata Communications, a leading telecommunications provider in India, may provide Mukesh Ambani’s energy company, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), with telecommunications infrastructure as the company is reportedly planning to launch wireless broadband services. According to reports, Srinivasa Addepalli, senior vice president (corporate strategy and communications), Tata Group firm, said that the operator had made its presentations to Reliance.
As per sources, RIL bought 95 per cent of Infotel Broadband Services Ltd., for which it reportedly paid US$ 960 million, so as to offer wireless broadband services across the country. Further, reports reveal that Reliance aims to offer 4G wireless broadband services across India in 2012, along with its new range of affordable tablet computers.
Industry analysts have reportedly said that a business deal with reliance would be beneficial to Tata communications as it would increase their revenue thereby reducing their loss, which has gone down from US$ 40 million in 2010 to $32.5 million in the second quarter of 2011.
Tata Communications selects Tranzeo for BWA (India)
Tranzeo Wireless Technologies, Inc. has been selected by Tata Communications to supply Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) equipment for network services to enterprise customers.
Tata will be deploying Tranzeo’s WiMAX and WiFi solutions in over 200 cities in India. Tranzeo will begin to ship immediately.
According to James Tocher, President and CEO of Tranzeo, they are excited and fortunate to be working with Tata to deploy broadband services across India. They have been successful in developing a broad family of products that meet the stringent requirements of Tier 1 service providers. Tata is the second Tier 1 service provider in India to select their equipment.
Tata Communications extends cloud to Singapore
Tata Communications has announced an extension of its InstaCompute cloud service to Singapore and its surrounding countries in order to move further from its historical wholesale carrier services role.
The firm is seeking a larger slice of the crowded managed services market and positioning itself in competition with various telecoms operators, by reaching out directly to businesses.
Instacompute, which is being marketed as an infrastructure-as-a-service offering, was first launched in India last year in October. The expansion of the service to Singapore aims to cater to businesses in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Tata Communications’ cloud services for the region will be hosted out of the company’s data center in Singapore, and delivered over the firm’s IP backbone and MPLS networks. The data center runs Dell storage and compute infrastructure.
The firm aims to extend InstaCompute to Europe, the United States and South Africa by the end of the year.
According to Vinod Kumar, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Communications, the company was hoping to entice customers with what he terms a ‘hybrid’ offering a combination of cloud, hosting and co-location services.
Vodafone to enter landline business in India
Vodafone Essar is planning to enter the leased landline and business solutions space, competing with larger peers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Tata Communications.
According to Naveen Chopra, Director Enterprise and Carrier Business, they are a late entrant in the business, but that puts them in an advantageous position of nothing to lose. Vodafone’s entry may intensify price wars in the enterprise business, just like new entrants in the mobile telephony space did since late 2008.
With retail customer tariffs coming down to one paisa per second, enterprise business present high margin data revenue for telecom operators. Unlike mobile telephone call rates that have halved over the last two years, telephony solutions for enterprises have been falling 10-15 % every year.
According to Chopra, they cannot pretend that there will be no pricing impact, but the volume growth in the enterprise business more than adequately compensates the fall. Over a span of five years,Vodafone Essar expects trebling of revenue from the segment, which currently accounts for 8-10 % of the company’s revenue at the moment.
According to the company, by the financial year that will end in March of 2016, enterprise business would account for nearly 20% of the company’s revenue. In the October-December quarter, revenue of Vodafone Essar was approximately 7,126 crore. It does not disclose the profitability of the region. It will also give preference to enterprise customers on its 3G services to be launched before March-end.
The company bought 3G airwaves in nine service areas for 11,618 crore in a government auction last year. The service is expected to bring more profit-making data business to telecom operators.
