Trunking
The radio trunking handset base registered growth of 200 percent from 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999, reaching 12,000 in the 25 cities where public mobile radio trunked service (PMRTS) is operational. This number is up from a mere 4,000 subscribers in the previous year. As of 1 August, the customer base for PMRTS in India was 15,000. The industry could have similar continued growth, as several large tenders have yet to be finalized. However, lack of encouragement by government bodies, high cost of radios and hassles with interconnecting to wireline services are some of the problems faced by the operators. Currently, PMRTS can be used only by members of an organization and interconnecting to other telecom systems is not allowed. These restrictions handicapped sales efforts for the service providers.
GMPCS
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper on license terms and conditions for Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS). It proposes a one-time entry fee and percentage of revenue sharing on an annual basis for GMPCS operators. The regulator is expected to release the final structure by October because the provisional license issued to Iridium India Telecom Ltd. is expected to expire by then.
MTNL listing
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL), a major telecom player in India, plans to time its listing of shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with its proposed disinvestment program, giving an option to its European stakeholders to convert their equity into American Depository Receipts (ADRs). The NYSE listing along with the ADR conversion-the company plans to list on the NYSE the entire Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) currently being traded at the London Exchange-will boost MTNL’s international presence. “The NYSE listing exercise will cost us around US$1 million, and we hope to complete it within the next three to four months,” said S Rajagopal, chairman and managing director of MTNL. MTNL plans to sell as many as 19 million shares currently held by the government.
