“We should be announcing the launch of our BWA services in the next few months,” said deputy group CEO and managing director of Bharti Enterprises, Akhil Gupta. He, however, declined to disclose a timeline for the launch. BWA enables high-speed internet access, internet telephony and television services and can be used for both voice and high-speed data services.
Bharti Airtel won BWA spectrum in four circles in the auctions conducted last year — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and Punjab — for Rs 3,314.36 crore. This was in addition to the Rs 12,296 crore it paid to acquire 3G spectrum across 13 circles in the auctions held last year. The company started its 3G services earlier this year.
Gupta also said that the company was considering an IPO for its tower arm, Bharti Infratel, which owns 32,424 towers. “At some point there definitely will be an IPO but not at this time – neither for Bharti Infratel nor for Indus Towers,” he said. Indus Towers is jointly owned by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular. Its proportionate share of towers in Indus Towers is 35,254.
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