GSM to be next growth driver for RCom: Anil Ambani

Anil Ambani, head of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group that owns Reliance Communications, said on Monday that the subscriber momentum for RCom continued to be strong, and the company had ''revolutionised the telecom market''.

The current subscriber base of the company stood at 86 million, and would cross 100 million by March 2010, he said, adding, ''The next wave of growth will come from the GSM operations.''

He also told shareholders at the annual general meeting in Mumbai that the draft prospectus for the initial public offer of its telecom tower subsidiary Reliance Infratel will be filed with market regulator SEBI shortly. 

Reliance Communications, whose board approved the proposal for Reliance Infratel IPO, would also consider fund raising through qualified institutional placement basis at an appropriate time. "The draft red herring prospectus for the said IPO will be filed by Reliance Infratel Ltd with SEBI shortly," Ambani said. 

The net issue would constitute 10 per cent of the post-issue paid-up equity capital of the company, he said, adding that Reliance Communications would hold 85 per cent stake in Reliance Infratel after the IPO. 

Ambani said, ''Capex peaked in 2008-2009, which is perhaps expected to reduce substantially in FY10.'' He added that Reliance Infratel had revenues of Rs 4,934 crore in FY09. ''We currently have 48,000 towers and 75,000 tenants. The tenancy for Reliance Infratel will double by 2012,'' he said.