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New players to bring $5 Bn bonanza for telecom industry
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 17 January 2008, 03:44 IST
Mumbai: The government's move to provide licences for new mobile phone operators will pool in a business of about $ 5 billion (Rs 20,000 crore) for telecom equipment companies, back office service providers and call centers, reported the Econminc Times (ET)
The move will help both multinational companies like Nokia and Huawei and small Indian players such as Kavveri Telecom, Spanco and Aegis BPO, the source added.
Earlier the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) gave Letters of Intent (LoIs) to nine companies. Based on the LoI the companies can start their services by the end of 2008 subjected to the availability of mobile frequencies. Telecom gear makers and business process outsourcing companies have already begun talks with the new entrants to tap this opportunity.
"This is easily a $4-5 billion opportunity for the industry with lot more players coming into the game," said C Shivakumar Reddy, MD of Kavveri Telecom a Bangalore based outsourcing company. "The company has already begun talks with prospective players for supply of equipment," added Reddy.
"The scale of work from individual operators would ultimately depend on the individual operator's growth plans. If the newer entrants want to compete straightaway with the likes of Vodafone and Bharti-Airtel, that would mean a stronger order book from their side," said Reddy.