Towering change of heart

A year can change a lot. American Tower Corporation, which wanted to reduce even its minuscule presence in India last year, has now become the second-largest telecom tower operator in the country after the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Viom Networks. People in the know said two reasons prompted the U-turn in the Boston-headquartered company's approach: the success of the spectrum auction in February this year encouraged it to once again look at expanding its India footprint, and the hard reality that its presence in other geographies has started stagnating. The Tatas, who pared their stake in Viom, and the Kanorias of the Srei group, who exited the company completely, are surely not complaining.