With plans to launch pan-India GSM services, Datacom Solutions has awarded a $400-million (Rs 2,000 crore) tower-sharing contract to Aircel Cellular. As per the agreement, spread over a 16-month period, Datacom will get access to 5,000 of Aircel's towers across various circles.
Aircel, in which Malaysia's Maxis Communications Berhad owns a 74 per cent stake, has over 15,000 towers across 17 circles in the country. Datacom, a joint venture between Videocon Group and industrialist Mahendra Nahata of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd., will now be able to have a faster rollout of services across all the 22 circles in the country.
Datacom Solutions has also begun rolling out of its own towers. Also, the company is in talks with other operators for similar deals.