MTS India

MTS India
SSTL
FormerlySistema Shyam Teleservices Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedDecember 2008; 16 years ago (2008-12)
Defunct31 October 2017; 7 years ago (2017-10-31)
FateAcquired by Reliance Communications
HeadquartersNew Delhi, India
Area served
India
Key people
  • Dmitry Shukov (CEO)
Services
OwnerReliance Communications
ParentSistema

Mobile TeleSystems India (MTS India) was a telecommunications company headquartered in Delhi, India. It was a joint venture and Indian subsidiary of the Russian mobile operator MTS. The company provided wireless voice, broadband Internet, messaging and data services in India.

MTS India was acquired by Reliance Communications (RCom) on 14 January 2016 in an all-stock deal, in which SSTL received a 10% share in RCom. SSTL was merged into RCom on 31 October 2017.

History

Sistema, the largest public diversified corporation in Russia, acquired a 10% stake in Shyam Telelink for a total cash consideration of US$11.4 million at the end of September 2007. Shantanu Telecom along with their partner Sistema had applied for UASL licence in 22 telecom circles of India. In August 2008, they got a pan-India start-up spectrum to start their mobile service operations in the country. They provide mobile services based on CDMA technology under the brand name MTS India and gave contracts to ZTE and Huawei for network expansion. MTS launched Kolkata & West Bengal in May'2009. MTS launched operations in Uttar Pradesh East and West in October 2010.[1]

On 2 February 2012, the Supreme Court of India cancelled 122 licences of 22 mobile operators, including 21 of MTS' 22 licences, in connection with the 2G spectrum case. MTS lost all its licences except the one for Rajasthan circle.[2] MTS had approximately 2.32 million subscribers in those 10 circles at the time of the announcement, and 14.88 million subscribers nationally.[3] According to MTS officials, the 10 circles where MTS ceased operations constituted 15.62% of its total subscriber base and less than 15% of the company's overall revenue.[4] In the 2013 spectrum auction, MTS won back licences and spectrum in 8 circles - Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal.[5][6]

Acquisition by Reliance Communications

On 14 January 2016, Reliance Communications (RCom) announced that it had acquired SSTL in an all-stock deal, in which SSTL received a 10% share in RCom, after paying off its existing debt. RCom would assume the liability for installments that SSTL had to pay the government from purchasing spectrum. The liability amounted ₹ 392 crore annually for 10 years. As a result of the deal, Reliance acquired nearly 9 million subscribers, as well as SSTL's spectrum in the 850 MHz band.[7] The merger deal was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in February 2016.[8] SEBI cleared the deal by March, and SSTL shareholders approved the deal on 18 March.[9] By mid-August, the deal was approved by tax authorities and the shareholders and creditors of RCom and SSTL.[10] The merger was approved by the Rajasthan High Court on 30 September 2016,[11] and the Mumbai High Court on 7 October 2016.[12]

The final approval, from the Department of Telecommunications, was given on 20 October 2017.[13][14] On 31 October 2017, RCom announced that it completed the merger.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "MTS mobile services in Uttar Pradesh by early-November". Mint. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  2. ^ Vikas SN (22 February 2013). "MTS India To Close Down Operations in 10 Circles; 15.6% Subscribers Impacted". MediaNama. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  3. ^ "MTS to shut down operations in 10 circles". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Sistema to shut operations in 10 circles ahead of spectrum auction". Livemint. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Sistema bags spectrum in eight circles for ₹ 3,639 crore". The Hindu. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Sistema gives 3 circles a miss in CDMA auction". Business Standard. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Reliance Communications acquires Sistema's MTS India in all-stock deal". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Reliance Communications Gets CCI Approval to Acquire MTS". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Sistema Shyam shareholders approve merger with Reliance Communications". Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  10. ^ "DoT's approval for SSTL-RCOM merger likely in Q4: Sistema - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  11. ^ "RCom gets Rajasthan HC approval for Sistema acquisition". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  12. ^ "Reliance Communication gets Bombay HC approval for Sistema acquisition - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  13. ^ "Telecom department approves RCom-MTS merger - ET Telecom". ETTelecom.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  14. ^ "RCom-Sistema Shyam merger gets DoT approval". The Economic Times. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Reliance Communications Completes Merger With MTS". NDTV. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  16. ^ "Reliance Communications completes merger with MTS". Zee News. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.