Bharti may list tower subsidiary Bharti Infratel

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it may look at listing its telecom tower subsidiary - Bharti Infratel.

Announcing the second quarter results of the company, group CFO Manik Jhangiani said company could look at an initial public offer (IPO) for its tower unit, although there was no definite time plan.

Bharti Infratel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti, provides passive infrastructure services to telecom operators.

It deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure in 11 circles of India. Infratel also holds 42 per cent share in Indus towers (a joint venture between Bharti Infratel, Vodafone and Airtel).

Bharti Infratel has 31,831 towers in 11 circles. According to analysts, the IPO can help Airtel unlock value in its tower infrastructure company.

Passive infrastructure generated Rs 2,116 crore revenue for Bharti during the second quarter ended September, 30.

Bharti said the tower arm is expected to spend $300-350 million in capital expenditure during the fiscal ending March 31, 2011.

Bharti Airtel has budgeted about $2 billion for its fiscal 2011 capital expenditure, excluding its tower unit.