Comba Launches mobile telecom operations in India

Mumbai: Hong Kong-based mobile technology supplier Comba Telecom (HKSE: 2342), which reported a group turnover of HK$1,092,761,000, (approximately Rs110 crore) in April 2005, will launch its India office to oversee its activities within the Indian sub-continent. The office will be located in New Delhi. Comba's current customer base in India includes operators such as Spice Networks, Hutch and Airtel, amongst others.

Simon Yeung, Comba's chief operating and strategy officer, who also oversees the company's international development, says, "Comba has long been present in the India market through representatives and the opening of an office is a natural progression that enables us to better serve our customer base and to address the huge market potential.

According to Rajiv Girotra, Comba Telecom's newly-appointed country general manager in India, "The Indian telecom sector is poised for the next phase of aggressive growth and is today considered one of the fastest growing mobile telecom markets in the world. In fact, industry estimates foresee an 11 per cent growth in penetration by 2009 from the current 6 per cent."

He explains, "The implications for the telecoms subsystems market is obvious - based on our own analysis, we expect the mobile operators to spend almost $70 million for repeaters and in-building solutions over the next two years alone. Faced with one of the lowest ARPUs (average revenues per user) in the world, Comba offers a reliable and cost-effective network enhancement solution to mobile operators to help mitigate pressures on their margins."