Telenor’s new majority-owned Indian subsidiary, Unitech Wireless, has struck tower-sharing deals with Wireless-TT – Tata Teleservices’ tower company – and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure, paving the way for the new operator to launch GSM services later this year. Unitech has also secured an agreement with Tata Teleservices for the provision of transmission. The tower-sharing deals will allow Unitech to mount its mobile network antennas onto existing as well as new towers to be built by Tata and Quippo. The two tower companies are currently in the process of merging, which would make the combined business one of India’s largest tower companies. The tower-sharing agreement covers approximately 40,000 sites, of which approximately 22,000 sites will be in place by April 2009, Telenor said in a statement. The remaining towers will be built in 2009 and 2010 in accordance with Unitech’s needs. The tower-sharing and transmission agreements both have 20-year terms with options to extend the contracts for a subsequent 5-year period.

“The tower and transmission agreements are key elements in the process of closing our Unitech Wireless deal, and will enable Unitech Wireless to embark on a swift and cost-efficient rollout,” said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, president and CEO of Telenor. The Norwegian-based firm bought a 60 percent stake in Unitech for US$1.1 billion in October last year, a deal that is expected to close this quarter. Unitech has obtained licences to operate in all 22 Indian telecom circles and has been allotted initial spectrum in 16 service areas.