Etisalat Interested in Entering Indian Market

Emirates Telecommunications Corp, or Etisalat said on Wednesday that it has held meetings with India's Spice Communications and others about possibly making investments to enter the Indian market.

"India is a very attractive market for Etisalat and we are studying different market entry strategies to determine the most appropriate fit," Chairman Mohammad Hassan Omran said in a statement to the UAE stock exchange.

Omran said the company was studying a greenfield licence announced by the Indian government. "We have also entered into direct meetings with various entities, amongst them Spice Communications, " Omran said, adding that nothing had been finalised.

Spice India shares jumped sharply on the news. The company is 46.89% owned by Telekom Malaysia and 48.8% controlled by the founder Bhupendra Kumar Modi through a family investment vehicle. Due to a prior agreement between his Modi Wellvest and Telekom Malaysia, he cannot sell for another two years without approval from Telekom Malaysia.

Posted to the site on 2nd April 2008