Alcatel-Lucent Managed Solutions India (ALMSI), a joint venture between the French telecom solution provider and Reliance Communications (RCom) to operate its networks, today said that it is close to striking two-three deals in as many months.
RCom has a 33 per cent stake in the JV, while Alcatel-Lucent has the remaining 67 per cent stake.
“The JV was formed initially to cater to the network operations needs of Reliance Communications alone. Now, we also plan to focus on business development opportunities in India and abroad,” Alcatel-Lucent India head Vivek Mohan said here. He added that the company was close to striking two-three deals in the network operation space, which might be announced in the next two-three months.
He, however, declined to give the details of the deals that are likely to be inked. But a source close to the development said that a deal with Telecom New Zealand was expected to be signed soon. Sandip Biswas, Head of Managed Services, Reliance Communications said that the joint venture, at the time of its inception exactly one-year ago, had targeted a $500-million revenue over a period of five years.
“Now, we have increased it to $750 million and hope to even go past that target during the remaining period of five years,” Biswas said.
He indicated that in its first year of operation, the JV registered just over $100 million in revenues, which might go up in the current year given that RCom was expanding its operations. Revenue from other prospective clients were also expected.
“The JV had started with CDMA and GSM operations and maintenance of five circles. Subsequently, we expanded the base to all 23 circles where Reliance Communications has operations,” he said.