Vodafone eyes No.1 slot in 3 yrs

Arun Sarin, the chief executive officer of world's largest mobile services provider Vodafone of the UK, believes that his company will be India's biggest mobile services provider in three years.

Asked how soon he saw Vodafone, which has just acquired majority equity in Hutch-Essar from Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecom, Sarin told Business Standard: "By 2010, Hutch-Essar, which will soon be re-christened Vodafone-Essar and change the Hutch brand name most likely to Vodafone in a few months, is currently the fourth largest mobile services provider in India behind Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Airtel, Anil Ambani's Reliance Communication and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

At an evening do at the house of the Ruias, the promoter brothers of the Essar group, at South Mumbai's seashore, Sarin said Vodafone was doing some "terrific things in India with terrific people, and hopefully we will make some money along the way".

He said he was convinced of the growth story in India and became determined to have the Ruias as partner from the first time he met them three months ago.

Sarin also expressed the hope that the overseas shareholders of Vodafone would look at the deal in the way it should be looked at, keeping in view the strong growth story unfolding in India's telecommunications sector.

Vodafone has been under fire for a while from its shareholders mainly due to its dipping margins. Its shares, ruling at four pounds at one time, dropped to 80 pence some time ago but have climbed back to 1.40 pounds.

Shareholders seem to have been unhappy with the earlier acquisitions made by the company by Sarin's predecessor. That perception, Sarin hopes, will change. Sarin jocularly said: "If you think the deal has been by the Ruias and for the Ruias, you are wrong. This deal is not for us, it is for the next generation."

Ever since the details of the deal became public, the perception has been that the Ruias have carved out a fantastic deal for themselves.