M Corp Global to stay mobile

M Corp Global, which holds 25 per cent stake in Spice Telecom, today said it had no plans to exit the cellular business.

"We (M Corp) have applied for six additional unified access licences in north India, which includes Western and Eastern UP, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the Rajasthan circles. We are focused on growth - a company which is on a growth mode cannot be on a sellout mode," Umang Dash, managing director,Spice Telecom, told reporters.

"We are open to fresh equity investments and partnerships in the six new circles for which M Corp Global has applied for licences," he added.

Spice offers cellular services in Punjab and Karnataka, and has a subscriber base of a little over 1.5 million.

According to company executives, Hutchison-Essar had approached foreign partners of Spice - Distacom, AIG, and Darby, which together hold about 75 per cent equity - for acquiring their stake in the company.

Terming Essar's bid as hostile, the chairman of M Corp Global, B K Modi, had approached the Delhi High Court, which granted a stay on the foreign partners from selling their equity till further orders.

Spice executives also said that direct offers to its foreign partners would not be possible as the first right of refusal was held by the M Corp Global group.

"Also, Hutchison Essar operates in the Punjab Circle, where Spice is also present, and as per the licensing norms, a single company cannot hold over 10 per cent stake in two operators in the same circle," said a Spice executive.

M Corp Global also announced its foray into the handset market with the launch of "Spice Mobiles".

The components of the phones would be sourced from Chinese and Taiwanese handset manufacturers, and would be tailor-made for Indian requirements at the company's plant in Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.

According to Spice executives, the company was targeting a sale of a million handsets by the year-end. The three models that were launched today were at the entry level and priced around Rs 2,500.

"While our focus is on entry level handsets, we will also have a wide range - between Rs 2,500 and Rs 20,000," said Kunal Ahooja, CEO, Mobile Phones, Spicenet.