Rel Comm draws USD 255 m for 3G

Rel Comm) has drawn down USD 255 million (Rs 1155 crore) by way of external commercial borrowing (ECB) to part refinance 3G Spectrum fee payment to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
This loan is funded by a consortium of banks led by Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DBS Bank Limited and Intesa Sanpaolo.
Rel Comm will benefit from extension of maturity, and substantial savings in interest costs from this facility, says an official release.
Earlier in December, the company had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Development Bank (CDB) to refinance USD 1.33 billion paid for 3G Spectrum to DOT. The MoU also covers financing of up to USD 600 million towards equipment and services to be procured fromChinese Vendors like ZTE Corporation and Huawei Technologies.
 “These facilities will be funded by CDB and other Chinese banks and financial institutions and their approval is expected soon,” the release adds.source

Reliance expands 3G in PB

JALANDHAR: Reliance Communications on Thursday launched 3G services in five major cities of Punjab- Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala and Bathinda. The company has said that it will cover other two dozen cities of the state in the next few weeks.

The expansion on the occasion of Lohri festival comes within a month of launching of 3G services in Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. "By end of current financial year 3G services will be launched in all the 13 circles," said R Com Wireless business circle head Sabyasachi Chakraborty while addressing a press conference on the occasion. He added that these services had been rolled out in record time of 100 days of receiving 3 G spectrum.