Was investing heavily in VSNL an internal company decision or a group decision?
First let’s qualify ‘invest heavily.’ The communications business initially requires high investment in infrastructure — long-term investment. In terms of the size of the investment, it is not as large as we would have had to make had we done NLD (national long distance) on our own. When we invested in VSNL, we didn’t have to do what would have been required to support our telecom initiatives. It was strategically very prudent that if the group took a 25 per cent stake in VSNL, TPC took 40 per cent of the Tata stake. It gives us a larger leverage. What brought about your investing 49 per cent in Tata Teleservices Ltd. (TTL)? In telecom you have to be present in different links in the value chain. The carrier’s carrier model, which initially is very profitable, over a period of time becomes a commodity and the tariffs drop. If you keep your activities restricted to any one link in the communications chain, you are likely to be left high and dry. We decided to be present in all the links
