Russian conglomerate Sistema’s Indian telecom subsidiary, Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), has won spectrum in India’s licence auction for US$665m.
The telco was the sole bidder for spectrum in the 800MHz band and has won licences in eight…
Russian conglomerate Sistema’s Indian telecom subsidiary, Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), has won spectrum in India’s licence auction for US$665m.
The telco was the sole bidder for spectrum in the 800MHz band and has won licences in eight circles, Sistema announced today.
SSTL did not bid for licences in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (East) and so will cease its operations in those areas.
It attributed this decision to “a range of variables including spectrum pricing, number of carrier slots available, levels of competition [and] future data potential in the circles.”
The Indian government has confirmed that SSTL will be able to set off the previous licence cost of US$297m against the new spectrum cost, the statement added.
“Today’s news is an important result which highlights the success of our strategy as SSTL’s operations will now focus on the most prospective regions, servicing 40% of the country’s population, amounting to over 60% of the data market whilst also maintaining 75% of the company’s revenues,” said Mikhail Shamolin, president and CEO of Sistema in today’s statement.
“Crucially, this outcome results in no upfront cash licence cost, substantially reduced operating losses and a clearer roadmap for SSTL’s profitability. We look forward to providing more details about SSTL’s resulting footprint in due course.”
