Russia's Sistema to build pan-Indian telecom operator

By Anastasia Teterevleva

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Sistema plans to create a pan-Indian telecoms operator as it targets the world's fastest-growing mobile market, and may expand into Africa, Sistema President Alexander Goncharuk said.

"We want to build a pan-Indian operator that would be ranked among the market's leaders," Goncharuk told Reuters in an interview. "We have ambition and resources, as we are acting together with a local partner which invests in it pro rata."

In September, Sistema bought 10 percent in Indian telecoms operator Shyam Telelink Ltd and signed an agreement in October to buy a further 41 percent. It also has a call option for another 23 percent.

"We will raise (our stake) to 51 percent as soon as we can, I think before the end of the year," Goncharuk said. The overall purchase price of the 51-percent stake will be $58.1 million, of which Sistema has already paid $11.4 million for the 10 percent.

Goncharuk said Shyam Telelink, which currently provides CDMA cellular services in Rajasthan, had placed bids for licences to operate in 21 of 28 India's states.

Shyam, which also has a GSM licence in Rajasthan and owns local Internet provider Shyam Internet, is among India's smallest in terms of subscribers but represents an entry ticket into a vast market.

"This company is a base on which we will develop the operator together with the Indian partners. The main question mark now is what decision will the authorities make," said Goncharuk.

There are about 217 million mobile users in India and service providers have been signing up more than eight million new subscribers each month on the back of a booming economy, low call tariffs and falling handset prices.