7/30/2019 ETM_2013_4_14_10

1/1

n 2006, Reliance Industries (RIL),Indias biggest private enterprise,began to quietly replace all its tele-phone lines that were not part ofstate-run MTNLs network. Out wentReliance Infocomm, which RIL bossMukesh Ambani had passed to AnilAmbani a few months earlier, whenthe brothers famously split their

family businesses under a deal bro-kered by their mother. In its place,came Bharti Airtel, promoted bySunil Mittal.

The move was hardly unexpect-ed. The division of the Reliance em-pire was rancorous, to put it charita-bly, and the Ambani brothers hadstarted sparring again over the list-ing of the companies carved out ofRIL. Yet, Mukeshs move to rejectwhat was now his telecom companyand select an arch rivals was a pro-

fessional and personal setback forAnil. It put paid to Anils hopes,which he expressed at the 2005 an-nual general meeting of RIL, of re-taining his elder brothers compa-nies under the Infocomm banner.

Cut to the present. Three yearshave passed since the Ambanis madepeace. Out of the blue, on April 2, thebrothers said their telecom compa-nies Reliance Communications(RCOM) and Reliance Jio Infocomm will share a fibre optic network aspart of a`1,200-crore deal.

Ten days later, the Supreme Courtrestrained Bharti Airtel on Thurs-

day from providing 3G roaming ser-vices to new customers in seven cir-cles where it did not win a permit.The rulings origin goes back to aplea by RCOM in the Delhi HighCourt (the case is due to be heardagain in May).

Changing Equations

These instances are what make thestory of Mittal and the Ambanis unu-sual. The history of Indian businessis strewn with hundreds of rivalries,but the one between these three bil-lionaires owing to their shifting alli-

ances a fight followed by reconcili-ation new turfs and high sweep-stakes makes it a singular case. Thatthey are also among Indias richest Mukesh is No. 1, worth $21.5 bil-lion, Anil No. 11, worth $5.2 billion,and Mittal No. 12, worth $6.8 billion,according to a Forbes ranking lording over business empires

worth t housands of crores makestheir saga even more absorbing.Thanks to their common interests telecom (all the three) and retail(Mukesh and Sunil) their lives andfortunes seem to be intertwined.Over the years, as the latest pact be-tween the Ambanis and the 3G courtcase show, the battle lines have beenredrawn far too many times to war-rant a count.

Take for instance the beginning ofthe conflict. In 2002, Mukesh Amba-

ni stormed into the telecom busi-ness. His big gamble was a new tech-nology Bharti chose to be diplo-matic, though other players calledthe bundling of limited mobility andfixed-line licence a backdoor entry that was complemented by low pric-es (remember the Monsoon Hunga-ma handsets at `501). It paid off: In-focomm secured 1 million customersin 10 days. In three years, Infocommhad usurped the title of Indias big-gest telecom operator by subscribersfrom Bharti. Mittal has himself admit-ted often that those were the darkestdays for his company.

I:: Suman Layak & Binoy Prabhakar

Fresh battle lines have been drawn as Mukesh and Anil Ambani

1 2The Long-

runningFeud

BetweenMukesh,

Anil & Sunil

The First FracasRIVALS: Mukesh and Sunil

WHEN:2002-2005

Mukesh Ambani storms into the telecom business

Bharti is diplomatic. Other operators scream foul.Reliance, they say, entered through the backdoor, usinglimited mobility that came with its fixed-line licence

Mukeshs Monsoon Hungama handsets at `501 a big hit

Bharti is soon struggling

Bharti survives because Mukesh quits telecom in 2005

The Spectrum StrugglesRIVALS:Anil and Sunil

WHEN:2006-2010

RCOM lobbies with the Prime Ministers Office toimpose a heavy one-time fee on GSM operatorswho hold spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz

RCOM wants refarming (reallocation) of 900 Mhzheld by incumbents; Bharti opposes saying themove will disrupt services

Bharti favours early auction of 4G spectrum in 700MHz band, but RCOM opposes the proposal

Incumbency is a

huge advantage intelecom andacquiring

subscribers isexpensive and timeconsuming. RIL haslimited experiencein services, so the

competition will not

be a walkoverMahesh Uppal, Telecom Expert

Big Telecom

The

cover storyAPRIL 14-20, 2013

10

http://0.0.0.0/