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HFCL closes the cellular chapter; not to bid for fourth cellular
Neeraj Jha
Mumbai : In a major departure from its earlier strategy, Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) has said that it will now have nothing to do with the cellular business, either directly or indirectly. Not only has the company decided not to bid for the fourth cellular licence but has also decided not to make any strategic investments in cellular companies. HFCL had close to a 10 per cent stake in Fascel, the cellular operator in Gujarat which it sold in December, 2000. HFCL, it may be recalled had contemplated entering the cellular business through the fourth licence route. Mr Mahendra Nahata, the HFCL group chairman had told this correspondent in January in a telephonic interview from Delhi. "We are definitely interested in it (bidding for the fourth licence) and we'll soon start working out the modalities. The only thing is that we won't be bidding for more than two circles.""Cellular is not on our agenda now," Mr Vinay Maloo, chairman, HFCL told The Financial Express. When asked whether this will also mean no further strategic investments in cellular companies like before, Mr C K Goushal, advisor - finance, HFCL said: "Yes, we won't be making any further strategic investments in cellular companies." Reason: those investments are investments in non-core areas. The buzz word at HFCL today is core competence. "We'll keep focussing on our core business, which is equipment manufacturing," Mr Maloo said. The company seems to be working on the advice of consultants McKinsey & Co. who were engaged in early January 2001 to help map out the future roadmap. Equipment manufacturing has suddenly become much more attractive with WLL and hence the change in its gameplan. "No, we had not factored in WLL in our projections for the year, as we had not expected the government to be so fast in opening up the sector," said Mr Maloo, adding that WLL has indeed made the basic telephony business attractive. He expects a significant business to come from WLL (equipment manufacturing). As part of its overall gameplan of getting away from non-core businesses, HFCL recently announced its intention of diluting its stake in HFCL Infotel, the subsidiary through which it operates fixed line services in Punjab. Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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