Indian Airtel scopes out Warid

Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel has sought the regulator's approval to buy a70 percent stake in Warid, the fourth largest mobile company in Bangladesh.

The value of the deal could approximate $900 million, according to Warid
officials.

The company has also placed a $300 million initial investment plan to Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), which will be implemented after
signing the deal.

The BTRC received Bharti Airtel's letter on Sunday. The commission also got a
letter from Abu Dhabi Group, the owning company of Warid.

"We have received a letter from Abu Dhabi Group that said it wants to sell a 70
percent stake in Warid Telecom in Bangladesh," Zia Ahmed, chairman of BTRC, told
The Daily Star yesterday.

However Warid officials declined to give further details of the possible tie-up.

The BTRC chairman said: "We will soon call officials from both the companies to
get details."

The issues over the sale of Warid stake were discussed much in the last few
months in the industry, as the company is not performing in line with its
expectations. Talks over the sale hot up as another Indian telecom operator,
Essar Group, acquired the majority share in Warid's operations in Africa.

Essar Group acquired the operations in Uganda and Congo at $318 million.

Earlier Warid officials had said it was on the lookout for a partner to raise
fresh capital for investment in its next phase of operations in Bangladesh.

Warid made its Bangladesh debut as the sixth mobile operator in May 2007 and has
roped in 2.79 million subscribers until October. Partnership is crucial to Warid
as its investment cost is higher than other operators because of
'discrimination' in frequency allocations, said the officials of the company.

"We are willing to invite a partner, as a huge investment is required to take
our operations to the next level," said Muneer Farooqui, chief executive officer
of Warid Telecom, in an exclusive talk with The Daily Star in May.

Several companies, such as SingTel, Vodafone and Etisalat, had also approached
Warid to form a partnership in Bangladesh.

Among the bottom three operators, Warid is a lucrative option for prospective
investors, as the company is the lone owner of the next generation networks.
However the company's network expansion plans have been disrupted due to a lack
of frequency.

Bharti Airtel is one of the Asia's leading providers of telecommunication
services with presence in all the 22 licensed jurisdictions in India, and in Sri
Lanka. It served an aggregate of 113,439,670 customers as of September 30,
according to the company website.

The company also deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure pertaining to
telecom operations under its subsidiary Bharti Infratel Ltd.