NRI businessman C Sivasankaran denying that Aircel Cellular Limited
is being sold for Rs 1700 crores

CHENNAI, APRIL 03, 2004

CALIFORNIA-BASED C. Sivasankaran, chairman of the Sterling group, which owns the telecom company, said he would think of selling it at a later stage, as and when the offer became attractive.

I will continue to build up the system to the level of three million capacity. I will look into the option of selling it, if a reasonable price is offered,” he told reporters while announcing that Aircel had crossed the one million subscriber base in Tamil Nadu on March 31 last.

“I am happy that Aircel is worth Rs 1700 crore now,” the NRI businessman said, adding that he was still “undecided” about selling it. “The answer to all your questions on this subject is yes and no.”

Mr. Sivasankaran has applied to the ministry of communications to start operations in 8 new telecom circles.
The circles are Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal which includes Andaman and Nicobar, UP East, UP West, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Assam . The company has also applied for North East and Jammu & Kashmir, but is undecided on starting operations there.

C Sivasankaran, Chairman, Sterling Group told a news conference here on Saturday that Aircel in the State has a touched a subscriber base of one mil-lion. The capacity of the network would be increased to two million connections by November 12 and three million by January 15 next year, he said.

"My business philosophy is to innovate in Tamil Nadu, replicate in other states (where I have applied for license) and integrate the operations," he said.

He also unveiled two new tariff plans wherein Aircel subscribers for more than four months will be offered three add on connections free which will be dedicated to women and children. "There will be no rent and SMS will be free. All outgoing calls will be charged at Re one a minute," he said and added that the offer will open only on January 1, 2005 .

Also, the company will introduce a unique cellular handset which will connect to only two numbers. "This is for school children. They can only call either their father or their mother. There will be no SMS facility and if the child goes outside the routine path, the parents will be intimated through an SMS. This will help the parents to know where their children are, and the best thing about the handset is that it cannot be switched off" Sivasankaran added.