India, at last shaking off the shackles of an over-planned economy, has thrown open its state-owned communications systems, issuing licences to joint venture companies to open cellular telephone systems and paging services in its four largest cities, Reuter reports from New Delhi. Eight companies have been licensed to operate cellular telephones in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Foreign firms involved in the project include BellSouth Corp and Cellular Communications International Inc of the US, General Mobile and Vodafone Group Plc of the UK, Australia’s OTC, Canada’s BCE Inc, France Telecom and Telecom Malaysia. Two companies are to operate in each of the cities, and are required to set up the systems by the end of 1993. The winners were picked from 30 that applied for licences in March. Licence fees and other financial details were not announced. The Department of Telecommunications also shortlisted 19 foreign joint ventures to operate paging services, with bids to be in by November 5.
