American Tower Buys XCEL Telecom

By Doug Lung
published

American Tower (ATC) announced Tuesday that it would acquire XCEL Telecom Private Ltd. The company is based in Mumbai, India and owns and operates around 1,700 tower sites. ATC's Amit Sharma, executive vice-president and president for Asia, observed that the Indian telcom business sector has been increasing and the timing of the deal was advantageous.

"India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets, with the tower market seeing record growth," Sharma said. "This deal will strengthen our base in India and give us access to a new set of clients and geographies where XCEL has established connections."

XCEL Telecom's director Pranav Parikh called the transaction a "significant milestone" for his company and one that would benefit its shareholders.

"XCEL will benefit from ATC's commitment and expertise in managing and growing such businesses globally," Parikh said.

An article on www.domain-b.com noted the Indian telecom industry will have to add another 150,000 towers by 2011.

In addition to more than 23,000 cell sites, American Tower also owns and operates broadcast TV tower facilities across the country.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.