Aircel eyes new areas, capacity expansion

MUMBAI: The Maxis-promoted Aircel Cellular is planning to double capacity in existing circles and enter new areas once spectrum is allocated. The nine-circle operator has floated an RFP (request for proposal) for 30m GSM lines, valued at around $3 billion, sources told ET.

“The RFP was issued around three-four weeks back and bids are expected to be submitted by July. The contract covers 25,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) and is likely to meet the company’s requirements over the next two years,” sources said.

BTS refers to the equipment which facilitates wireless communication between user equipment and the network. Each BTS can support up to a minimum of 1,000 lines depending on the technology used. Each line can support one subscriber.
With Ericsson quoting $107 per line in the recent GSM tender for 45.5m lines, the Aircel RFP can be valued at around $3 billion.

The RFP includes supply of GSM/EDGE equipment, implementation, project management and managed services, including operating and maintaining the network infrastructure. The vendors will also deploy flexi base stations, mini-ultra base stations, mobile soft-switching solution, including MSC servers and media gateways.

Aircel CEO (North and East India), Rohit Chandra, confirmed that the company had issued the RFP. However, he refused to divulge details. Aircel, which currently looking to fill up top management positions in India including that of country CEO and CFO, has not altered its expansion plans. Malaysia’s Maxis, which owns 74% stake in Aircel, has announced an investment of $2 billion for expanding the telco’s operations in the country.

Maxis is banking on Aircel to boost subscriber growth, as its Malaysian operations face intense competition in a mature market. “In India, it’s very much about coverage,” Maxis CEO, Jamaludin Ibrahim, had said recently.

With this RFP, Aircel joins the long list of operators waiting for spectrum to expand in the fast-growing telecom market. While Idea announced a $500 million deal with Nokia Siemens and another one with Ericsson this year, Hutchison Essar is also finalising equipment vendors for expansion.

Aircel had 6.4 million subscribers at the end of May, with nearly 5% share of the GSM market. The company is expanding geographically and has licenses for all the 23 circles. Aircel has also received 2G spectrum for rolling out services in Kolkata. It has awarded a Rs 300-crore contract for that circle to Nokia Siemens and plans to commence services there by this year-end.