India Broadband

Pirate

UK based mobile service provider Vodafone has announced that they have sealed a deal with India’s Essar group. The two companies have now settled their differences on management control of Indian mobile firm Hutchison Essar.

Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said in a statement: “United we stand here today before you and we will be taking the business forward in the rapidly expanding Indian mobile market.”

As part of their deal, Vodafone would now have “operational control” of the company. The company would now be called Vodafone Essar and Essar would have “rights consistent” with its 33 percent shareholding.

Sarin further said that they expect the Indian government to approve the deal “in the coming weeks.”

He added that they want Hutchison Essar to be “number one in the Indian market by 2010″. Sarin said: “We look forward to helping develop the Indian society and economy through the benefits mobile telephones can bring. We’re talking about making affordability a non-issue. The opportunities in India are about penetration.”