Vodafone plans network JV

Vodafone plans network JV

UK-based mobile service provider Vodafone Group's Indian operation is planning to partner with other domestic players for networks sharing, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Vodafone already has agreements to share base stations with other companies in Europe such as Telecom Italia in Italy and France Telecom's wireless unit Orange in the UK.

This expands Vodafone's earlier plans to share its network with India's largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel. Vodafone now plans to operate these networks through a joint venture, which could include other operators. According to the company, this would reduce the costs associated with building the backbone of a mobile phone network, including towers, particularly in rural areas.

"As we've gotten into it, we're finding that we've been able to expand the scope and scale of the venture that we were thinking about," said Arun Sarin, chief executive at Vodafone. The company did not disclose the names of the companies that could join the joint venture.

Mr Sarin also said that Vodafone is expects to spend about $2 billion this year in building network coverage in India. He added that the country is only about 50% built out in terms of covered population, and teaming up with partners in a joint venture will allow for savings in building out the rest.

Vodafone acquired the controlling stake in the Indian operations of Hutchison Telecom earlier this year for $10.9 billion. Other European telecommunication companies have also expanded their operations to growing Asian and African markets such as the acquisition of incumbents by France Telecom in countries like Ghana, Kenya and Niger in the past two months.

Vodafone's Indian business experienced year-on-year revenue growth of 53% for the six months ended September 2007 compared to a 2% growth recorded by its European operations.