New Delhi: Telecom major BSNL today said its
proposed acquisition of Kuwait's Zain Telecom is on hold, as
the state-run firm has not got the required information from
domestic company Vavasi, which was trying to rope in the PSU
as a consortium partner for the deal.
"We had sought some information from Vavasi about the
company itself, which we have not got. To that extent it can
be implied that the acquisition of Zain Telecom is on hold,"
BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal said.
Asked if BSNL is looking to approach Zain Telecom
directly, he said "nothing like that at the moment."
The PSU, which today announced a partnership with the UK
-based BT to offer managed global conferencing solutions to
Indian corporate, said of the company has a Rs 14,000-crore
capex plan for the current fiscal, a major portion of that has
already been spend on mobile line expansion and network.
Vavasi is a New Delhi-based company with diversified
interest, including telecom and renewable energy.
Goyal said the revenue of the PSU would take a hit due to
a host of low tariff announced by the company following the
stiff competition in the segment, but he hoped that volume
growth will make up for that.
Asked about reports of any CBI probe in BSNL-Swan Telecom
deal, Goyal said he is not aware of any such probe.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 15:08