Worldcom Inc To Invest Rs 1,400 Crore In India

US-based telecom major Worldcom Inc plans to invest Rs 1,400 crore in tranches in the Indian telecom sector.

Sources said the company intends to channel a significant part of this investment into manufacturing and assembling switching equipment. Another important area of investment will be terrestrial fibre cabling for transmission of voice and data.

At present, the US major is on a reconnaissance mission, trying to identify an Indian partner, with which it could jointly float the venture.

Sources close to the US company confirmed preliminary talks with a leading Maharashtra-based industrial house have already started.

An industry source said "The move is a logical sequence to the entry of all leading international telecom majors into India, though the exact joint venture arrangements would have to be worked out, and the timing does not appear right considering the current fluid political situation."

 

The source further said Worldcom's investments would mainly be in the form of equity. The US major will seek to retain a substantial equity stake in the joint venture.

Worldcom is one of the largest telecom service providers in the world. It has major acquisitions to its credit. In 1995, it took over UUNet, the US-based software and telecom company, and MFS Inc, another US company. Worldcom does not have a representative office in India at present.

Industry sources said with this entry, all the major telecom companies would be represented in India. AT & T, the global US based telecom giant, has already linked up with Birla while Sprint of the US has tied up with the RPG group.