With continuing growth in number of subscribers and entry of new telecom operators, the increased demand should offset, to a large extent, the reduction in infrastructure requirement due to sharing.

On the current scenario of the telecom towers market vis-á-vis the global market

The estimated number of towers that are operational as on the close of FY 08-09 is 2,81,000 including BSNL. An additional 1,40,000 towers are expected to be set up by existing private operators, BSNL, and new entrants in 2009-10. That means about 50 percent of the towers added till the previous financial year shall come up during 2009-10 alone. Hence, the outlook for the telecom infrastructure industry in FY 09-10, in my opinion, is definitely positive.

On the factors driving the growth of the Indian telecom towers market

The factors driving the growth of Indian telecom towers market are the entrance of new licensee companies like Shyam, Loop Telecom, Datacom, Swan, Bycell, Unitech, etc. and additional expansion of the network by existing players like Aircel, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, RCOM, Bharti, and Vodafone. Another thing that deserves a special mention here is BSNL's planned expansion in four zones that will require about 59,400 tower sites over a three year period.

On how infrastructure sharing can affect the growth of the market

For obvious technical and commercial reasons tower/infrastructure sharing shall affect the market growth. A tower designed to carry just one operator's antennae load need not be doubled or tripled weight wise to carry two or three operators' antennae load. It will increase in weight of course, but not pro-rata to the number of users. In the same way sharing of shelters, power supply, D.G etc, will reduce capex/opex costs for operators but shall definitely affect the seller's market of such items. Antennae sharing and access NW sharing will also affect the market growth of tower suppliers. However, with continuing growth in number of subscribers and entry of new telecom operators, the increased demand should offset, to a large extent, the reduction in infrastructure requirement due to sharing.

On the impact of 3G on the future of the telecom towers market

Basically 3G does not warrant more sites for a given number of customer and geographical area, compared to 2G. However, it requires more capacity of transport media like access or backbone MW. Hence, 3G may not add to tower markets, except in marginal cases, assuming there is replacement of 2G equipment by 3G.

How did the slowdown affect the market?

The slowdown has not so far visibly affected the market, though it might have some effect on the cash flow of the customers and thereby demanding extended payment terms. This of course shall indirectly force the tower vendors to go for credit supply of raw materials or borrow at market interest.

On the key customer expectations from vendors

Readymade and certified tower designs, quality manufacture and prompt supply, globally competitive rates, and comfortable (pay at ease) payment terms are the expectations from the vendors. Reasonable warranty and in some cases AMC are also important considerations.

On green solutions offered by Aster.

We do offer solar power systems and hydrogen fuel gensets for cell sites based on customer demand, though we do not manufacture them. We have also started R&D on various green initiatives, especially those that could reduce power/fuel consumption at telecom sites but these are in the initial stages now.