Bharti to launch 3G service by Oct 2010

Within a weak of the government announcing plans to auction spectrum for 3G mobile services, India's largest private cellular operator Bharti Airtel said on Wednesday it will launch the service by October next year.

"If everything goes well on time with regard to spectrum auction, by February or March we will have spectrum allocation. By next Diwali (2010), we will have commercial

launch of 3G services in India," Bharti Airtel CEO Manoj Kohli said on the sidelines of a function organised by Qualcom.

The government has fixed Rs 3,500 crore as the base price for pan-India 3G spectrum and the auction for the same is expected to be completed by November.

As per the original scheme of arrangement, Bharti will acquire 49 per cent in MTN whereas MTN and its shareholders will get 36 per cent economic interest in Airtel.

The alliance if happened will create a USD 23-billion revenue entity with over 200 million subscriber.