Bharti Airtel is forming a new independent infrastructure company to hold its substantial fibre-optic assets, the Economic Times reports, citing an internal memo. The Indian telco is understood to be in the final stages of transferring its fibre networks to a wholly-owned subsidiary, known as Telesonic Networks. Telesonic was first established back in 2009 to ‘provide end-to-end wireline network management’. The assets include some 246,000 route kilometres of fibre.
According to the internal document viewed by the Economic Times, senior Bharti Airtel executive Gopal Vittal pitched the move as follows: ‘Given the significant growth in data consumption in recent years, we believe a robust and independent infrastructure company that serves the growing need of fibre in the telecom industry is critical’.
Going forward, it remains to be seen whether a stake in the new business will be sold to external shareholders.