The Hindu Business Line : RCom buys Ugandan co, to invest $500 m

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Plans to offer mobile, fixed line, Internet, national and international long distance services in addition to WiMax and Wifi services in Uganda.

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Mumbai Feb. 21 Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications on Thursday announced the acquisition of Uganda based Anupam Global Soft (U) Ltd, marking its foray into the international mobile market.

Anupam holds the Public Infrastructure Provider Licence (PIPL) and Public Service Provider Licence (PSPL) issued by Uganda Communications Commission. The acquisition is being made through a subsidiary of Reliance Communications.

The company said in a statement that under the existing licenses, it planned to offer mobile, fixed line, Internet, national and international long distance services, in addition to WiMax and Wifi services in Uganda. The company has received spectrum allocation and plans to launch its mobile services by end of 2008.

Although it did not indicate the price at which the acquisition was made, Reliance Communications said it was targeting to invest up to $500 million (Rs 2000 crore) in establishing a high quality, fully-IP enabled integrated telecom network in Uganda to capture the significant growth potential in this emerging African market.

Mr. Punit Garg, President (Global Business) of Reliance Communications said, “Uganda telecom market is similar to what India was eight years back. Our expertise in managing among worlds largest integrated telecom network and deep understanding of diverse consumer segments makes us confident to achieve a significant position to add further value for our two million shareholders.”

The company plans to connect the African continent with rest of the world by laying a submarine cable system through its arm Reliance FLAG and spend $ 1.5 billion (Rs 6,000 crore) in building a 1,15,000-km fully IP-enabled optic network to reach two-third of world population.

Reliance Communications is lining up an ambitious global expansion plan, concentrating on opportunities in emerging Asian and African markets. The company has established a pan-India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wire-line), convergent digital network that is capable of supporting services spanning the entire Infocomm value chain.

Uganda has a population of about 30 million with a significant literacy rate of about 62 per cent. There were 3.016 million mobile subscribers by end-March 2007, equivalent to a penetration rate of 10 per cent, thus providing significant scope of expansion. The existing telecom players have been witnessing healthy subscriber and ARPU growth recently, the company said.