 |
Prof.
Dr. Anton Kathrein (seated to the left),
Mr. Vinit Phatak (seated to the right),Mr.
Volker Kuhn
(standing left ) & Mr. Alois Trepesch
(standing to the right). |
As Indian telecom networks expand, the world’s
oldest and largest antenna manufacturer, Kathrein
Werke KG , Germany, commits to the regional
market by purchasing 51% equity in Indian
company.
Mumbai,
India and Rosenheim, Germany, August 29, 2003
: Prof. Dr. Anton Kathrein and Mr.
Vinit Phatak announced today that
Kathrein Werke KG has purchased 51% equity
of the company Omega Telecommunciation Suppliers
Pvt. Ltd. from Vinit Phatak and family and
have changed the name of the company to Kathrein
India Private Limited – Omega Telecom Division.
“The co-operation over years with our Indian
partner company Omega Telecom has proved to
be successful. Now we have invested directly.
India offers a high rate of growth and has
escaped set-backs of financial crises and
SARS” stated Prof. Dr. Anton Kathrein,
Managing Director and owner of Kathrein Werke
KG. |
|
Kathrein
Director Mr. Alois Trepesch
added, “We serve here all local wireless network
operators and have a large share of the Terrestrial
TV Antenna Systems for Doordarshan.”
“We do not exclude a local production, even
if there is no immediate need for such enterprise”
said Mr. Volker Kuhn, Kathrein’s
Area Manager.
“We are very honoured that Prof. Dr. Kathrein
and his directors have put their faith in
our team at Omega Telecom and are proud to
be part of the Kathrein group of companies”
stated Mr. Vinit Phatak,
who continues to be the Managing Director
and majority Indian shareholder of Kathrein
India Pvt. Ltd.
Omega Telecommunication Suppliers Pvt. Ltd.
was started by Mr. Vinit Phatak in 1996-97
with a first year turnover of Rs. 5.9 lakhs.
Seven years later, it has offices in Mumbai
and New Delhi, and a 2002-03 turnover of over
Rs. 28 crores.
In base station antennas, which are used to
provide cellular network coverage, the company
has achieved a market share of
over 75% in India with almost
all wireless operators (GSM and CDMA) as its
customers. Given the serious expansion plans
of customers such as Bharti, Hutch, Idea,
Reliance, Tata, BSNL and MTNL, the company
is poised to continue its rate of growth for
the next few years.
In the Broadcast industry too the company
is a market leader. In the past three years
it has won a majority of the Doordarshan orders
for high power VHF and UHF Terrestrial TV
and DVB-T Antenna Systems.
With this joint venture in place, Kathrein
India Pvt. Ltd. will also introduce to the
Indian market Kathrein’s complete range of
products for the Cable and Satellite industry
which include Set Top Boxes, Satellite Antennas,
DTH Antenna Systems and Receivers, Cable Line
Amplifiers and a variety of Test Equipment.
According to Mr. Vinit Phatak,
“Given the current CAS and DTH market scenarios,
Kathrein India is ideally positioned to provide
high quality German products with complete
local support and after-sales service. With
a 51% Kathrein equity, local manufacturing
via transfer of proprietary technology can
become a reality as soon as the market demands
it.” |
